The Cycle of Sin

Over the past couple years, the Lord has taught me about this thing called "sin patterns" in my life. Sin patterns are like habits of sinful behaviors that you just can't seem to break. God has convicted me and changed me from the inside out, but it was definitely a process. That process began when I sat down, exhausted and fed up with all of my helpless attempts to solve the problem (sin), and said "Lord, I need you. I can't do it anymore. You have to help me." It was then that he began to teach me about how the Enemy, Satan, uses the same lie he told Eve in the garden to fool us into giving ourselves over to sin. At one point in my life, the sin pattern was lust and sexual sin, and at another, a critical spirit, but again and again, the Lord continues to teach me about his love and grace for me in my every day life, no matter what it might me that has me in a cloud of doubt, fear, or shame. God is so good, kind and merciful.

I want to share with you from Genesis 3, the cycle of sin that the Lord taught me about. It has helped me to identify sinful behaviors, thoughts, and patterns in my life, and nip them in the bud before they become a stronghold. I hope this is helpful for you!

Read Genesis 3 in totality and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to what he wants to show you!

The Cycle of Sin:

1. Satan plants a seed of doubt.

*Gen 3:1 “Did God actually say”

Satan is a liar and wants to deceive you. (John 10:10)

He wants to steal your joy by convincing you that you are alone.

He wants to steal your peace by making you so busy that you never have time to open your Bible.

If Satan can keep you out of the secret place (out of the presence of God), he is doing his job.

We live in a world of GO GO GO, but Jesus is calling us to sit at his feet in the midst.

2. We don’t remember what God said in order to debunk the doubt.

*Gen 3:3

Do you KNOW the Word? Do you KNOW the shepherd’s voice?

Matt 4: Jesus quotes scripture back to Satan when Satan tries to misuse it.

Have you ever felt like God was asking you to do something, but you didn’t because you thought “that wasn’t God, that was just me.”

Learning his voice is a process of saying yes!!

Matt 6:24 says "You can’t serve God and man." So in order to follow the voice of God, you have to abandon your pride, you have to not care what others think, you have to be okay with looking foolish to people, and sometimes even to the christian community.

3. Sin starts to look desirable.

*Gen 3:5

Satan is not going to tempt you with something that doesn’t look fun/good.

When we get out of the presence of God, our flesh starts to take over. Suddenly holiness is not your desire, sin is.

Matt 16:24 - it is not natural for us to follow Jesus, it is a daily surrender, a daily picking up our cross. It isn’t always fun/easy, in fact, often it is neither, but it is so rewarding and fulfilling.

Sanctification is a process of becoming more holy (more like God). When we refuse to spend time with God, we aren’t desiring what he desires, we aren’t going where he's guiding, and we don’t see what he sees.

4. We commit sin

*Gen 3:6

The lies/doubt that the enemy fed us to start with come to fruition in disobeying God.

5. We see clearly the effects of the sin we committed.

*Gen 3:7

Sin causes shame. We see that God’s way was better, and we feel it and see it.

For example, you lie to your friends over and over and they catch you. This manifests in the reality that no one can trust what you say and your words hold no weight.

6. We hide from God

*Gen. 3:8

Instead of running back to God, in confession and repentance, our sin and shame lie to us AGAIN and convince us that we need to hide from God

Sin so often makes me not want to talk to God. I stop praying and spending time with him because of shame. I run away from His presence because I am scared he will be mad and unforgiving but the reality is that He just longs to be with you.

7. God calls out to us in our sin.

*Gen 3:9

He doesn’t just leave us to ourselves, he comes to us. Exactly where we are. He loves us and wants us to come to him.

He calls out to us to repent and return to him.

8. In our shame, we cast blame.

*Gen 3:12-13

We try to protect ourselves by blaming other people.

We play the victim, and do anything BUT take responsibility.

You committed sin and YOU need to repent- this is a step toward healing.

Sometimes we don’t even blame a person. We blame a situation, circumstance, or thing

For example, “I only lied because I didn’t want to call them out.”

9. There are consequences to our sin.

*Gen 3:16-19

We reap what we sow. There are natural things that happen because of sin.

For example, the loss of trust after you’ve lied.

10. God clothes us in his truth.

*Gen 3:22

John 8:31-32

John 14:6

He clothes us in his word. (Ephesians 1:4-14. This is who we are.)

He clothes us in his blood. (1 John 1:7)

His blood is enough to cover your sins. He died for you and you get to live in that truth. You are not a victim to sin. You are a victor over sin in Jesus. You are in war against sin and against the enemy. We have to armor up and fight, not just roll over and give up.

How merciful of our father to clothe us in his blood and his truth after we have directly disobeyed him!

Reflect:

1. What stuck out to you about the cycle of sin from Genesis 3?

2. What things do you feel like you need to repent of? Why?

3. What lies has the enemy been feeding you that you need to identify and fight against?

4. Are you hiding from God? Do you feel stuck in shame and guilt?

If you have been convicted of a sin pattern in your life but have no idea how to stop, I encourage you, run to Jesus and say "Lord, I need you. I can't do it by myself anymore. Help me." Then, trust that he already paid the price. You are FREE!! Run back into his arms and let him love you!