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If I’m a Christian, Why Do I Struggle with Sin so Much · Kate’s Devotional Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I′m Kate Dreston, and welcome to Kate′s Devotional Podcast.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I drop my podcast every Wednesday.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: It′s always a five-minute or less devotional to bring you encouragement as we try to live our lives according to the Bible.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I′m so glad you′re here.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Today we′re going to talk about how sometimes we want to do the right thing, but even though we have good intentions, we still mess up.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Last Monday, I started the day off with devotions.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that′s a sign of a good Christian, right?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: A Christian who has it all together?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I prayed for the Lord to use me and let my life be a witness to others, and I really meant that.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn′t even three hours later that my good intentions fell apart.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, so I hired a company to do some remodeling work at my house.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we had just barely started the process and they lost some of my paperwork.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: There was some kind of confusion.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I was pretty frustrated.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was on the phone trying to get it all sorted out and I was really unhappy with the way the company was handling things.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up snapping at the person I was talking with.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I could feel that my patience was disappearing.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: My stress level was climbing.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm thinking, if this is how we're starting off, what's going to happen when they start removing a wall or the other things?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, later I was talking to a friend, and I felt the need to rehash the whole situation, and of course that included speaking badly about the person that I′d hired.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as I got off the phone, it was like the Lord convicted my heart and brought these scriptures to my mind, like the verse in James 1.19 that says, Be slow to get angry.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously I failed on that one.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Another verse was Ephesians 4.29 where it talks about building others up, not tearing them down.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I messed up on that one too.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's Philippians 4.6-8 when it talks about, you know, do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition, present your request to God.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I didn't do that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last verse that came to my mind was Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 where it talks about trusting the Lord, not in yourself.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of screwed that one up too.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I felt like such a failure because I never wanted to sin and yet I did it so quickly and easily.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in Romans chapter 7, verses 15 through 25, Paul talks about how he felt that way too.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: He was kind of perplexed because it seemed no matter how much he wanted to do the right thing, he ended up doing the opposite.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Paul wonders who′s going to help him do the right thing when he′s not strong enough.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he answers his own question with how Jesus Christ is able to deliver us from our sins, and He′s going to help us when we struggle with sin.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: So even though we′re saved, we won′t be sinless until this life is over.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: This journey through life, it′s not a sprint, it′s a marathon.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there′s going to be successes and failures.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: But we′re called to persevere.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: This means we keep going in spite of our failures and obstacles.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: We have hope.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also be a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So God is going to help us to resist sin and overcome temptation to do the wrong things.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: My prayer today is for the Lord to help me live today in His strength and to lead me each step of the way, and I hope that's your prayer too.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you want more of my One-Minute Devotionals or Four-Minute Podcasts, check out my free Substack account at katedreston.substack.com.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Make it a great day, and thanks for listening.