I HUMBLY ASK JESUS TO HELP ME TO RECOGNIZE AND REPENT FROM THESE FLAWS IN MY CHARACTER AND BECOME MORE SENSITIVE TO THESE AREAS OF SIN IN MY LIFE THAT I HAVE BEEN HELD CAPTIVE TO (JOHN 8:34). I ALSO ASK HIM TO HELP ME TO LEARN A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE, RATHER THAN A FEELING OR DESIRE-ORIENTED LIFE AND RECEIVE HIS FORGIVENESS FOR LEADING SUCH A LIFE.

In Principle 3, I made the decision to turn from the things of the past. Now, by faith I have come to the point in Principle 7 where this decision becomes a reality. James 4:10 states, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” There will be times I will experience the temptation to believe that God is not granting my request for deliverance from my sin or sins. There are numerous reasons for this but one may be that I have not fully given this issue over to God, or simply put, I am impatient for something to be resolved. I cannot ask God for deliverance from a sin and then keep committing it at the same time. If I ask God for help, I must believe that He will help me. I must humble myself and turn completely away from my sin, whatever it is. I must then learn to recognize these temptations and turn immediately to the LORD for help from His provided resources and strength to resist.

The death of Jesus Christ on the cross has paid the price for all my sins. Now I have the opportunity for that forgiveness to become a reality. I need to receive this forgiveness in the areas that God revealed to me during the time and process of Principles 4 through 6.

Psalm 41:4 I said, "LORD, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You."

This passage tells us a truth we don’t often think of when we sin. When we sin, we sin against God alone. We at times sin against our brothers or fellow man, but in principle, we sin against God. Jesus stated that the greatest commandment was to love God and love our neighbor as much as we already love ourselves. When we don’t love our neighbor in this manner, we have already broken the first commandment. Therefore, we all have sinned against God and Him alone. Also, note that David tells us that God is perfectly just and blameless when He judges. (Psalm 51:4)