We Can Be Free In Christ

Besetting sins? What are besetting sins?

The scripture, Hebrews 12:1, was a verse I had heard many times. It reads,

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” I wanna focus on the part of the verse that says “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.”

I had never really understood, or even taken the time to understand, what the word ‘beset’ meant, but it always intriqued me.

A few months ago, my pastor came before my local assembly and talked about besetting sins, and I finally understood what it meant. A besetting sin is defined as, “a sin that you deal with constantly; a sin that comes up in your life in cycles - you experience guilt and shame, ask for forgiveness, then after awhile the cycle starts again."

A besetting sin can be lust, anger, stealing, lying, cheating, envy, gossip, gluttony, pride, promiscuity, pornography, swearing, cursing, masterbation, covetousness, fornication, gambling, and the list goes on.

If we are indeed Christians, born again believers and followers of Christ, we have victory and do not have to deal with besetting sins that hinder us from living in complete victory, and in the life that we are to live in Christ, and that hinder us from serving God without reserve. Christ got up from the grave with all power in His hand. When he died, our old man died with Him, and when He rose again we became a new man, with everlasting life.

When Christ died, we died with Him, and since we died with Him we were made free from sin.

Romans 6:6, 7 reads, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

We have been delivered because of Christ, we just have to walk in it, and be intentional, choosing to put aside, “every sin.”

There is no reason we have to struggle with the same thing over and over again, for years. Most likely we like it and are comfortable with where we are, therefore we have to make an actual decision to “put it aside” and let it go. I’m not just talking about people, but this topic most definitely hits me personally as well.

Another verse in Romans, chapter six, verses 12-14 asserts,

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

One thing that we can do to get out of the cycle of besetting sin is get on our faces before God in humility. Pursue Him, and do exactly as the apostle Paul admonishes us in Romans, " let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us..." 

Just lay it aside, put it off, and be determined to go all the way with God. Will you strive to lay aside your besetting sin with me? Let us pursue God together and shine His light wherever we go.

 Praise Be To God. How Liberating. What A Privilege To Live Free In Christ. What An Honor That He Chose Us. Oh How He Loves Us.


*the image was found on google*