Imagine a certain sin. You’re not just tolerating it like a stray dog that occasionally squeezes under your fence. But you feed it. Adopt it. Adore it. Maybe it’s scorn for others who aren’t as cool. Maybe it’s an addiction to drink or drama or porn. Maybe it’s lust or lies. 

Soon enough, that sin isn’t your pet but your master. You know it’s wrong, but it brings you satisfaction . . . acceptance . . . happiness. 

Or does it?

No. 

Sin can only do what all sin does—separate you from your God forever. That sin you adore will be the death of you. 

Maybe you’ve begged God to remove your temptation, to take the taste for it out of your mouth. Sadly, that’s not how it works. Sin will dial your number as long as you live in this world. But that sin has no clout because of Jesus. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:4).

You belong to Jesus. He nailed your sinful passion to his cross; it dangles there, a pathetic master. Oh, it still has breath—it coaxes and threatens and beckons. But you don’t need to listen. In your heart sits another Master—your risen Savior. He hasn’t just set you free from the penalty of sin. He’s set you free from its power.

When temptation crooks a finger your way, nail it to the cross. Your heart belongs to someone better: your faithful, forgiving, forever-loving God.