I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. —Romans 7:15
Several years ago, I talked with a young woman who wanted help with an area of recurring sin. She said, “I sin; I get caught. I confess, then change and grow. But then I fall back into doing the same thing over again.”
She was discouraged over this pattern, as I have been when it’s happened in my own life. You think you’ve dealt with the sin, and then it happens again.
I said to her (as I want to say to you): “This is going to be a battle. You have years of sinful patterns you’ve established in your life, and you’re not going to change those overnight in terms of long-term, deep transformation.”
That’s why you need to be diligent to add onto your faith the qualities in 2 Peter. There are no shortcuts. It won’t happen overnight, and it won’t be easy. However, it is possible. By God’s grace, you can change. The good news of the gospel is that you can become a person of virtue and godly character.
Make it Personal
What sin do you battle on a recurring basis? How can you change the pattern by adding to your faith (2 Pet. 1:5–7)?