How to Hate Sin
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12
The way to fight sinful temptation is to hate sin which means our anger is satisfied when we defeat Satan’s temptations through the power of Christ. There is great satisfaction of victory when we overcome Satan’s deceptions and lies. Since we have friends who believe Satan’s lies and haven’t accepted Christ, it gives more satisfaction when are victorious.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21) We overcome evil by doing good, and this gives us more satisfaction as we defeat Satan. Our temptation from Satan can trigger us to do good. However, we must have the strength to overcome our sinful emotion with Truth in order to have victory. We can overcome our emotionally driven temptation with anger because anger can be a more powerful emotion than the temptation.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9) The more we cling to what is good, the more we will hate evil. We are in a spiritual war and we learn how to fight by directing our anger at Satan, overcoming temptations, and clinging to what is good. The more satisfaction we have from defeating Satan through the power of Christ, the closer we are to Christ and His love increases in our heart which, in turn, gives us even more power to overcome. Anger at Satan plus love for our Lord gives us divine power to overcome the world.
Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4) A strong, spiritual warrior depends on the Lord to overcome the sinful nature from the world and escape is to overcome the temptation to our flesh by changing our emotion. We have captured our thought to the obedience of Christ, and we now proceed to do something good, such as praying or reading the Word. When we master our escape from Satan’s temptations, we are on the road to overcome the world.
Today, when Satan tempts you, get angry at Satan as the enemy. Through the power of Christ, seek victory. Experience the satisfaction of victory over Satan, and let each victory strengthen you to be a more powerful spiritual warrior.
Prayer: Lord, give me your power to overcome Satan’s emotional attacks. Help me to find the escape for every temptation and replace the temptation with good. In Jesus’ name, Amen.