Lighthouse Baptist Church
and Christian Academy

1. Confusion. We often have a lot of confusion in our lives because of this tension between wanting to do what's right but then ending up not doing it. Paul says, "I don't understand myself."

Have you ever wondered why you act in ways that don't make sense?

Have you ever wondered,

• "Why do I keep making the same mistake over and over? I know this is wrong but I keep doing it again and again."
• "Why am I so resistant to change?"
• "Why do I do what I don't want to do? I don't understand myself." There's confusion in your life.

2. Frustration. Frustration is the natural byproduct of this civil war inside of you. Paul says in Romans 7:17 "I have the desire to do good but not the power."

How many times have you started each week or each morning with great intentions: today's going to be different! But by evening or the end of the week nothing has really changed.

How many diets have started in the morning and by the end of the day you're in for a balanced meal - a Big Mac in each hand. It's frustrating. You want to change but you just can't. You have the motivation but not the determination. You can't pull it off. You have the desire to do well but you don't have the power.

3. Discouragement. Hear the discouragement in Paul's voice in Romans 7:24 "I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me?" Do you hear his discouragement in here? I'm at the end of my rope. I don't know what to do. I've lost the battle. I'm ready to give up. My life's a mess. I'm a failure. Why even try? Why not just throw in the towel and get used to being a failure? I'll never be able to change.

People don't like to use this word today. SIN. That's your problem. And that's the problem why you can't change. SIN.

What is sin? Sin is not a behavior. Sin starts in the mind. Sin produces sinful behavior - no doubt about it but it starts in the mind.

Definition of sin: Sin is playing God. It's when I do what I want to do instead of what God wants me to do. It's ignoring God.

It's saying,

• "I'm not going to listen to You, God."
• "I'm going to do what I want to do, what I think is right."
• "I'm going to play god."
• "I'm god and you're not."

It is my nature to be selfish. I have to learn to be unselfish.
It's my nature to be discontented. I have to learn to be content.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

John 1:8

Principle of life: Sin always involves self-deception. At the moment you're sinning you're deceiving yourself because you think that what you're doing will actually produce better results than what God said.

Fact of life: To stop defeating myself, I must stop deceiving myself. I've got to take the honest look at my life, face the truth and deal with the issues.

What is it in your life you're pretending isn't a problem?

What is it in your life that you're pretending you're not addicted to? Because all sin is addictive in some form.

What is it in your life that you're saying, "It's no big deal!"

Why? Because your were living in denial. "If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Jesus said this in John 8:34 "I tell you the truth; everyone who sins is a slave to sin." He's saying we always underestimate the power of sin. Sin is always addicting. We're exchanging short-term pleasure for long term loss. It's a long-term loss based on a short-term pleasure.

I've got to acknowledge the root of my problem. That's facing the truth about you.

Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 7:24-25

The answer to your problem is a person.

• Who's going to be Lord of your life?
• Who's going to be manager?
• Who's going to call the shots? You or Jesus Christ?

Paul says He can set me free. When I'm mastered by Him I can master my problems.

For the new spiritual principle of life in Jesus Christ lifts me out of the old vicious cycle of sin.

Romans 8:2

What is the cycle? Good intentions - failure - guilt - good intentions - failure - guilt... How are you going to break out of it? It's getting the power of Jesus Christ into your life.

That is a Biblical principle of recovery. This is an absolute pre-requisite to healing and wholeness from God.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen.

James 5:16

This is a pre-requisite.

Confess to each other and pray for each other.

God has wired us up in a way that we need each other. That's what the church is for. The church is not to be a hotel for perfect saints, but a hospital for sinners.

This is the place for people who've admitted it, "I have an old sin nature and I have a war going on in my life that's constant. But I believe that Jesus Christ can make a difference in my life. And I'm willing to humble myself and I'm willing to admit when I've blown it and get some help, some accountability for it. Because I want to get better. I'm more interested in being different than in pretending that I'm different. I'm more interested in getting it together than pretending that I've got it all together.

I acknowledge the root of my problem, I believe Christ can change me, I confess my struggle to another and I dedicate myself completely to Christ. You need a power that is greater than yourself.

Don't let sin control the way you live. Don't give in to its lustful desires. Instead give yourselves completely to God since you have been given a new life.

Romans 6

Every day you are controlled by something. Whether you like it or not. You may be controlled by:

• Your own ego.
• The expectations of other people.
• Fear.
• Resentment or bitterness against somebody else.
• Guilt.
• A substance.
• A habit.

Freedom comes when you choose what's going to control you. When you choose Jesus Christ to be the controlling factor in your life, when I am mastered by the Master, I can master everything else. If God is not number one in my life, something else is and it'll control me to a negative degree. When Christ is in control of my life, He always moves me in the right direction. Instead of a substitute, I choose God. I choose Jesus Christ.

What does this decision involve? These steps:

1. Admitting that I've been trying to play God;
2. Admitting that I can't change on my own;
3. Humbly asking God to help me change;
4. Being willing to be honest about the things that need changing in my life with somebody else; and giving Jesus Christ total ownership of my life.

What happens when I do that? What happens when I take this step?

"God keeps His promise. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist and at the time you are tempted He will give you the strength to endure it and so provide you with a way out."

Bottom line: Do you really want to change? Are you willing to do these things? They're simple but they're not easy. Do you really want to change? There's something real about coming to Christ and saying, "I'm going to give you everything in my life." Dedicate your life to Christ. The Bible says when you do that God gives us not a spirit of fear but of power, love and self control.

You say, "I'm so tired of trying and failing." Stop trying. Stop. Instead, start trusting. It takes more than willpower. The truth is that you've tried and tried. You've tried everything else and nothing else has worked. God gives you the option to either depend on Him or depend on yourself. The result is either freedom or frustration.

"If any man be in Christ, he's a new person inside. The old has passed away, the new comes."

So the question is: "Do you really want to change."

Would you pray this prayer in your mind? God will hear you. "Jesus Christ, You know there are things in my life that I really don't like. Things that I do and things that I say and things that I think. You know, dear God, that I have tried to change on my own many, many times and I can't. Today, I admit that I am powerless to change and that my life has become unmanageable. I need your power and your presence in my life to change. I want to make a fresh start, not based on trying but on trusting. So today, I commit my life to You, Jesus Christ. Or I recommit my life to you." For those of you who haven't done so pray this, "I want to make a fresh start and I'm going to make a public declaration of my trust in you by being baptized. I want to ask you to help me find an accountability partner who can support me in the changes I want to make and I need to make. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."