Be Killing Sin
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:13
Grass is persistent and relentless. Time and again grass must be cut to keep it under control, but time and again it grows right back. Rain + sun + grass inevitably leads to more grass. It can be frustrating to finish a satisfying job of straightening up a yard only to look a few days later and see the work needs to be done yet again.
So it is with sin in our lives. The fight against sin never ends. We fight and fight and feel we have made progress against this temptation or that struggle only to see sin and temptation rising up again.
But just as grass requires sun and rain, sin requires certain things in order to grow. What it requires is different from one temptation to another. What stirs anger or covetousness in you? What causes lustful thoughts? What leads you into lies or deception or divisiveness? Identify the root causes of sin in your life and seek to root them out. The old puritan John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” This draws from Romans 8:13 where Paul says, For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Never grow weary of this work of fighting sin. Never tire of striving for holiness. And hold fast to the promise of Philippians 1:6 that God will finish what he has started in your life.
