UnstuckSample

Getting Unstuck from Sexual Sin: The Process

In all change there’s first a crisis and then a process. Crisis is getting stuck and knowing it; process is regaining traction. Crisis is meeting Christ; process is knowing and living for Christ. Crisis is repenting of sexual sin; process is practicing intentional steps to repent, assure ourselves of forgiveness, and pursue healthy relationships and spiritual growth. When we fail in the process, we must return to the crisis. 

The crisis of repentance is a necessary step in real transformation, but repentance isn’t the final step in change; it’s just the first step. And it leads to the process of ongoing repentance, which involves continued confession. The call to repentance is the call of a prophet; the call to the process requires the tone of a pastor and teacher, instructing, by God’s grace, the Lord’s people in the process of change. 

James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another,
that you may be healed.” You might still think, Why would we confess our sins to
one another? Scripture is clear that only God can forgive sins. But there’s a reason God’s Word tells us to confess to one another.

We repent and confess our sins to God for forgiveness. We don’t confess our sins
to one another for forgiveness. We confess our sins to one another for the assurance of forgiveness. When patterns of sin are greatly ingrained, when sin, confess, sin, confess has become a too-often-repeated cycle, engagement with our brothers and sisters in Christ, mutually acknowledging sin and soliciting God’s help to break that pattern, is the biblical prescription. It’s a lifelong process.