How to Deal With Repetitive Sin

As a Christian, there is nothing more despairing and hopeless that repetitive sin. How easy it is for doubts and confusion regarding our own salvation to begin to creep into our minds when we continue to sin over and over again. Overwhelming feelings of God’s anger and disappointment with our repeated rebellious behavior can crush us so completely we eventually do not want to come to him at all.

This dark trail of sinning, being sorry, feeling overwhelmed by guilt, and finally running from God because we are too ashamed to speak with him is Satan’s greatest hope and a Christian’s quickest ruin.

So how do we deal with repetitive sin according to the Bible? There are so many good answers here, but perhaps the most important way to deal with repetitive sin is to never give up. Our hope is only found when we truly believe that God’s faithfulness is greater than our faithlessness.

The Most Important Way to Deal With Repetitive Sin: Always Repent Every Time

There should be many differences between a genuine believer and an unbeliever, but the biggest difference must be a relentless effort to repent, repeatedly, no matter how many times it takes. Christians and non-Christians both continue to sin, but the mark of a true Christian is admitting one’s failures and turning to Jesus for redemption on a repeated base.

In Jeremiah 2 God is pointing out Israel’s sins so that they may see their wickedness and return to him, “Yet in spite of all this you say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned’” (Jeremiah 2:34-35). It’s important to note that despite all the wicked sins they had repeatedly done throughout the Old Testament, the real reason God passed judgment on them was because they have said, “I have not sinned.”

Repetitive Sin Can Always Be Forgiven If True Repentance Is Also Present

God knows we will all sin many, many times in life. He will never condone repetitive sin or simply act like it didn’t happen, but God is not anticipating us to be perfect in our mortal bodies. What he does expect, what he does demand, is that we recognize our sin and repeatedly repent to him every time we sin. Jeremiah 3:12-13 continues:

“Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree and have not obeyed me,’ declares the Lord.”

The only unforgivable sin is the sin that you no longer want forgiveness for. The only way to prove you were never saved to begin with is to no longer want to be saved by no longer repenting of your sin. 1 John 1:10 states, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

Summary: How to Deal With Repetitive Sin

Sinlessness is not the mark of a saint on this side of eternity; repentance of sin is. Perfection is not the evidence of a true conversion, perseverance is.

Christians should be growing and gaining victory in our lives as we are being sanctified, but this process of growth will only occur when no matter how bleak it seems, you turn back to God again and again after repetitive sin.

Throughout our journeys, we will all stumble many times (James 3:2), but thankfully Jesus is there to advocate for us (1 John 2:1-2). Although we stumble, we do not have to fall, for God’s hands are more than capable of upholding us (Psalm 37:24). Repeated sin should certainly cause us to examine our faith to make sure we really do believe in Jesus Christ, but the most important thing is not the absence of sin but the presence of genuine, heartfelt repentance and dependence on the grace of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

God says to all of us, “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness” (Jeremiah 3:22). So how should we deal with repetitive sin? We must rely solely on the one who repeatedly forgives because of his own faithfulness