“Breaking the Chains of Sin” Pt 3:
Proverbs 29: 6 says, “An evil man is SNARED by his own sin.” Evil is defined as profoundly immoral, wicked, or depraved behavior. It refers to actions, motives, or forces that cause deliberate harm, pain of suffering to others or themselves. Evil is the opposite of being “good.” Snared, as mentioned in Monday’s blog is the attempts of Satan to trap a person into wrongdoing.
There are hosts of people today wishing they could break certain habits of sin but are discouraged because several attempts of escaping that bondage has not been successful. There are lots of things that can hold a person hostage. Here are a few. Pornography, uncontrolled anger, lying, jealousy, lust, gambling, illicit sex, alcohol, drugs, abusing others verbally, or physically. There are other things that can hold a person captive wishing they could be freed.
Some things hold people in mental captivity that they may not consider a sin, but it is detrimental to a person’s welfare. Things like low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, loneliness, a broken heart, being forsaken by parents or other relatives, divorce, memories of being molested as a child, and the inability to forgive yourself for a committed sin. Satan is relentless. He knows a persons’ vulnerability and will attack that area of their life at every opportunity.
Sin may be a “snare,” but Scripture offers hope to any person feeling trapped and in a hopeless situation. Hebrews 12:1-2 is a great example; “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the SIN that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”
These witnesses are references of those wonderful people mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11. They stand in testimony that God has the power and grace not only to forgive sin, but to break the chains that hold people captive setting them free. God only knows the number of people He released from bondage that were suffering what you are. There’s HOPE and POWER in the name of Jesus. You too can be set free!!
Pastor Carnes
