How can I avoid backsliding?

Ezekiel 37:23They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

Like the ancient Israelites, we are prone to create idols, get caught up in sinful thoughts, and act contrary to God’s instructions. Instead of accepting our daily wandering, we can make it a habit to remind ourselves that we belong to God and that our lives will be best when we are serving him.

Proverbs 3:5-6Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

When we regularly acknowledge God’s presence, his instructions, and his faithfulness as we are making choices in every area of life, we are less likely to wander off into destructive detours. Self-reliance without God-reliance is an unreliable way to live.

1 Peter 1:14You must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.

If the enemy can no longer have you, he will work to immobilize you and nullify your spiritual progress. Backsliding is always a return to familiar territory while forgetting how lost, desperate, and confused you once were. You don’t have to relive those days. Rather, ask, “God, what do you want me to do today?” and give him some moments to speak to you.

Matthew 26:41Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!

Attentiveness and prayer are good inoculations against temptation. They don’t mean temptations will not come; like effective vaccines, they prepare us to recognize and resist the invitation to sin.

1 Corinthians 10:13The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Backsliding, like all sin, is not excused by pointing out that it happens to everyone. Everyone stumbles, and many fall, but we each must rebound from our failures. God’s faithfulness means he is unwavering in his love and interest toward us. Rather than wallow in temptation, we can ask him to show us a way out, a way through, or a way back to him.