1 John 5: 4 For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who
is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?
When we give up trying to let go of our vices are we saying that we don't trust Jesus to heal us of these?
I was a compulsive overeater for most of my life. One day I gave up and told God that if He ever wanted me to be thin, He'd have to do it, because I couldn't. Well, I actually didn't expect for God to do anything, because I was really giving up on dieting. The surprise was that very same day, Jesus took away my urge to eat sugar, excessive carbs and large amounts of food away from me.
It wasn't anything I did of myself. It was all Jesus!!! He allowed me to lose 80 pounds and to keep the vast majority of it off for over 30 years. If Jesus could heal my big vice, He can certainly heal yours!
In the process, Jesus had to teach me some important lessons. A major one was that I had made food a false god, because I was turning to food for comfort when I was stressed, worried, etc. Once He showed me this, I started turning my food, body, and eating over to Jesus' very capable hands each day. Have your vices become false gods to you? Do you turn to them instead of to Jesus? You can do the same with your vices. One thing is to ask Jesus for the willingness to turns these vices over to Him each day.
Does that mean that I never slip up? No. Satan knows that I am especially vulnerable to overeating, especially when I start getting sloppy with my eating plan, which most often means I've gotten sloppy with my relationship with Jesus. Fortunately for us, we have a very forgiving Savior. When I realize what I've been doing, I ask forgiveness and for Him to be in control of my vices, because I can't.
Trying to be in control was another one of my vices, but I didn't realize it until it was one of the lessons Jesus taught me along the way. In the years prior to this, I thought I had a close relationship with Jesus. I would ask Jesus to help me stop overeating. I would pray for Him to help me to be thinner. I kept asking Jesus to help me instead of turning control over to Him. It has made a major difference in my life.
So, back to the original question. When we give up trying to let of our vices are we saying that we don't trust Jesus to heal us of these? Be prayerful about your answer to this one!
