JMD Devotional 224 James 5:16 Breaking Sin’s Grip

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

I am a man recovering from porn addiction. Like an ex-alcoholic, I am just ‘one drink away’ from debauchery. My life requires constant vigilance. When I do slip, it becomes ten times easier to slip again, and the secrecy of the sin protects itself by withdrawing me from the accountability of others. If I pridefully cling to the delusion that ‘I can handle it’, I ultimately loose all spiritual traction. No, the Biblical prescription is to confess my sins to another. “You are only as sick as your secrets.” Picking up the phone and calling a trusted mentor and confessing my slip breaks the power of sin in my life and restores obedience to God’s Word. We were never meant to go it alone.

Dear God,
What a paradox! When I try to be strong (in my own self-will), I become weak and quickly defeated by my sinful heart. When I admit defeat and humbly seek help, I become more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus, I become a ‘champion!’ In my own flesh I can do nothing; only by Your Spirit working in me can I overcome. You have ordained the Church, the Body of Christ, to work together as caretakers of each and every redeemed soul. Help me to stay connected to You and Your Kingdom.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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