Do we really believe Jesus can help us?

Most of us guys will probably respond with a resounding “yes”. You’re probably already flipping to Philippians 4:13 in your Bible. Yes! I can do all this stuff through Him who gives me strength.

But what about in the realm of sexual sin? How many of us really believe Jesus can help us there?

We all fail in different ways. Some of us see things we shouldn’t have seen, or end up going to places we should never have gone to. Many of us really do try, but almost inevitably fail.

I use the word inevitably because each time we fail, I think it becomes easier for us to lose ground to a growing doubt in our hearts.

I know many guys who have come to believe that after so many years of trying and failing, some sins are unbeatable.

This doubt is a heavy feeling, replete with resignation, self-condemnation and capitulation. This doubt lies and concedes that God doesn’t work in this area.

It births wrong and sinful convictions, and grows with each passing failure, cementing the false notion for us that sexual sin is inevitable — perhaps even normal.

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” (Hebrews 3:12-14)

Are we just waiting to lose? I know many guys who have come to believe that after so many years of trying and failing, some sins are unbeatable. We become tempted to write it off saying, it’s normal, natural, everyone does it. But we’re wrong: We have made it the new normal: “Hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”.

The truth is we weren’t wrong in flipping to Philippians 4:13 earlier on. God does give us the strength to learn to be content in Him. When we are first satisfied by Him, we’ll stop trading eternity for the temporal. Only then will we not be distracted on this heavenward journey, derailed by something cheaper, quicker, easier.

“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)

Such a guy verse. We must have read it a thousand times by now.

And yet so many of us still fail to truly apprehend the promise which lies in this verse. Christ experienced every temptation, and yet He never faltered. He remained entirely without sin. And today, this same Champion is lending us a hand in our own fight.

What if we believed? What if we stopped being quiet quitters? What if each failure wasn’t met with resignation, but a holy grief – a grief that urges repentance and ushers in light and life?

Man, we’d better believe — we’re playing to win.

There is One who stands at the finish line, a Victor cheering you on. And at the very same time, He is right there — running beside you.

The Adversary counts on our sin and disobedience in this world, to make his case against us. Likewise, there are many enemies in the brush, just beyond this narrow path, waiting for any opportunity to disqualify you from finishing the race well.

Yet there is One who stands at the finish line, a Victor cheering you on. And at the very same time, He is right there — running beside you. He picks you up when you fall; carries you in grace when you lose sight of the finish line and are staggering off the path.

What if we really believed that?