Have you ever felt so controlled by a behavior that you felt enslaved to it? You may be experiencing the results of habitual sins.
Habitual sins are destructive. These are sins that feel addictive, controlling, and always present. Most of the time the sin remains in the dark and consequently the person experiences tremendous shame and guilt. Sometimes the sin even begins to define a person and becomes the main issue in their life.
Habitual sins destroy you emotionally and spiritually. Here are a few examples: over eating, lust, alcohol and drug abuse, fits of rage, dependency on a person, constant gossiping, pre-marital sex, watching porn, and masturbation. Regardless of the form of sin, there are many common characteristics one experiences when struggling with it.
Most of the time you experience these symptoms without even realizing they are happening to you. Slowly over time, as you fall deeper and deeper into the addiction, you may start to realize that you do have the symptoms below. Take the time now to check and see if you have these symptoms. Pray that God would work in your heart and free you from these strongholds.
Habitual sins can cause you to experience:
- Depression. You wake up feeling depressed because you messed up again the night before. You wonder, ‘when will I get over this?’
- Negative body image. You look in the mirror and negative thoughts about yourself begin to enter your mind. You think, ‘How could I do this again?’
- Bad moods. For the rest of the day, you begin to think you’ll never be good enough. You start to believe that you’ll never be a good spouse, Christian, or_____ (fill in the blank). You believe the lie that you’ll never be pretty enough.
- Failure. You want to give up pursuing Jesus because you feel guilty about the sin. You stop going to church, stop spending time reading your Bible, and thus you feel like a failure.
- Separation. The lack of time you spend with God begins to make you feel far from him.
- Unworthiness. You begin to feel unworthy of God’s love. You question, ‘how could God love a sinner like me?’
- Shame. You keep your issues to yourself and don’t share them with others. You do this because you worry what others will say, but keeping this secret inside of you leads you to the feeling of shame.
- Addiction. The issue is always on your mind and you feel helpless in battling it.
Habitual sins put a wall up between you and our perfect God. Some days, you only see the wall and it is hard to remember that God is on the other side. Remember, He hasn’t moved. God will never move away from us, only we can move away from him. Right now, something may seem different, and God may feel far away. You think you can’t see him. There is a wall, and it is SO tall. The wall is so tall that it looks impossible to get over. You begin to question, ‘how will I ever remove this sin?’
Friends, it is possible! God can remove the sin if you are so deep that you have all 8 of the symptoms above, or God can remove it if you only have 1. God has the power to heal you, redeem you, free you, and save you.
Here are previous posts that may help you find freedom:
- “I can’t” = “God, you can’t”
- Can God heal our hurting hearts?
- Cry out to God: When will this hurt end?
- Who does God say you are?
- 8 Reality Checks to Keep You On Your Purity Game
- Stop Limiting God
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9 Comments on 8 Symptoms of Habitual Sins
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amburlymargaret
at (10 years ago)I just started bawling reading your post, I’m struggling with pornopraghy & everything you have said is exactly what has been happening to me a lot lately. I feel so guilty & not myself after watching it, I hate disappointing God. Just writing this is just tearing me up. Please pray for me. I would honestly appericate it more than anything. God bless!
Joy Skarka
at (10 years ago)You are not alone. This blog post was inspired from a past of struggling with porn too. Have you head of http://www.xxxchurch.com/? They have online support groups, accountability, and so many great blog posts. I just started freelance writing for them. I love their passion and mission statement. Also, feel free to e-mail me. ([email protected]) I don’t want you to feel alone or shameful while going through this. God is bigger that this issue, but I know how hard it is to see that amidst the struggle.
xoxo
Joy
sammy
at (8 years ago)I pray to god am a baptised Christian I know God well I don’t do any other sins still am sining sometimes get addicted to porn how can stop it
joypedrow
at (8 years ago)Hi Sammy,
Have you been able to reach out to anyone, a trusted friend or counselor to talk about you addiction? Thank you for opening up with us online, but you need some in person accountability and community to help build you up and find freedom. What about someone at your church?
Sally
at (3 years ago)Yes there is someone at my church who really understands my personal life..
She is the one who gave me the idea of searching about habitual sins
Sally
at (3 years ago)You are not alone
I will pray for you..Just have faith that God will change your life
ams69
at (3 years ago)I thought I received Jesus when I was 8, but when I was 18 and on my own I learned what it truly meant to walk with the Lord. But, there was still a part of my heart I had not surrendered to God. Thou my life changed drastically, and from outward appearances I was walking the straight and narrow, there was still an addiction, a lust that would raise it’s ugly head.
I took drastic actions in an attempt to excise it from my life, but that in itself was an addiction. It was just replacing one wrong choice with another. There are no shortcuts to repentance. It really does mean dying to ones self.
I determine this in my heart, nothing else will own me but God. I will allow nothing else to make decisions about where I go, what I do, what I say, and what I think. God is my Lord, He alone decides my actions. Holy Spirit place a check on my feet, my hands, my mouth, and on my mind, that I would only go where it pleases the Father, only do what pleases the Father, only say what pleases the Father, and only think what pleases the Father.
I will trust God to give me the strength, I will entertain no excuse for sin, I will continue to repent earnestly anytime I fall short, I will hold this standard against myself but to others I extend forgiveness and love, and do my best to show how the power of God can deliver us from anything.
I’m posting this as my confession of faith.
Sally
at (3 years ago)I learnt a lot from this
And I’m gonna ask God to forgive me and give me a new clean heart.
Amen.