But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 1:14

Have you ever walked upon the skin or outer covering of a banana? It is one of the scariest and most dangerous slip and fall you will ever have. You begin with a slide. It may be a short slide, but at the end of that slide there is a very had fall. I want to use this scenario to describe how one falls into sin.

First of all, no one ever wakes up in the morning and tells himself, “you know, today I feel like sinning. I feel like buying myself some crack or cocaine and just getting wasted. Or, you know I’m going to get myself a hot babe tonight and commit adultery.” But I am not sure that is the way people fall into sin. It is a long, gradual, progressive slide.

A journey of one bad choice after the other until the fall.

It could be just one thing we saw, somebody we met, a short flirtation, a second look, a click on a dirty link, a place and time you should have never been, a temptation that keeps knocking until it leads to compromise. But each bad choice has a way of providing a gradual slide toward a hard fall.

The scary thing is you are not aware of how fast you are sliding until it’s too late.

The first sign that shows we are on our way down is a casual take on our faith. We begin to lax in prayer and meditation. Than our frequency into the house of God for worship and fellowship becomes rare. Sooner or later we begin to lower the standard for purity and holiness. A little curse word here and there – you know it slipped. The thing is, you don’t hate the Lord, you love him, but worldliness begins to slowly get a hold of your life until you get caught up in a comfortable current of worldly compromise.

Bang! The fall… It’s too late!

Allow me to describe what the fall looks and feels like.

It is a life completely desensitized.

You are no longer shocked by sin. You lust, you watch porn and rated R movies, you masturbate, you fornicate, you curse and laugh at crude, vulgar and dirty jokes. You abuse your spouse verbally and physically. You lie and cheat on your spouse and it doesn’t move you. You have no sympathy for the poor and elderly. You tease and make fun of them. You have completely backslidden, and a religious spirit has taken over your life. You are so deceived that you think everything is alright because you can invoke the grace of God. The same grace you have turned into a license to sin. You have become too busy for prayer, and God’s word. In fact the Word does not affect you anymore. Your altar is dry and is found wanting of tears, and you have all the excuse for your sinful lifestyle.

My intention was to write about warning signs that show how one slides toward a fall, but I realized that even the smallest of our sinful compromises is a sure sign that we have already fallen too far into sin. And if our hearts are not sensitive enough to bring us to repentance, know that we have fallen very far.

The good news is – there are things we can do that would help us live a victorious Christian life. Allow me to share a few:

1. Never forsake your first love…never let your heart grow cold by sin’s deceitfulness.
2. Live in a spirit of repentance… Confession is good for the soul… Covering up sin is bad.
3. Pursue Holiness… Make this your goal… Imitate Jesus… It pays off.
4. Develop a lifestyle of prayer and meditation… Read your bible and pray everyday.
5. Commit whole heartedly to accountability and fellowship… Let a godly person into your life.
6. Learn to deal with temptation properly and promptly… Cut off the things that easily entangle.
7. Resist the devil… Don’t underestimate the power of the devil’s attacks on you.