Why Do I Keep Sinning If I’ve Given My Life to Jesus?

One of the things I did not fully understand when I became more serious about following Jesus was that becoming more aware of my sin would not necessarily mean I would immediately become better at avoiding it.

I think this can be especially difficult for a new Christian. You have given your life to Christ. You want to change. Things that didn't bother you before begin to bother you now, and naturally you expect that transformation to show itself in your behaviour. Then you fall back into something you have already asked Jesus to forgive, and suddenly you are wondering what that says about your faith.

I have experienced this with lust. My tolerance for it has gone down considerably, and I have improved, but I still struggle with it. Before I became serious about my faith, I allowed a lot more lustful thinking and viewing into my life. I was willing to give those thoughts space that I am no longer comfortable giving them.

Anger has been another struggle for me. I have a real mean streak when I am angry. I can become vicious and vindictive, and my words can cut very deeply. There was a time when I could actually get lit up inside when I was going at someone. I knew I could hurt them with my words, and in that moment there was a part of me that wanted to.

I don't like that side of myself anymore.

It hasn't completely disappeared. I still have outbursts, and unfortunately the people closest to me can be the ones who experience them. What has changed is my tolerance for that behaviour. I recognize it for what it is now, and gradually I am getting better at walking away before I get to that point.

That has made me wonder whether part of Christian transformation is not simply that we stop sinning, but that our relationship with sin begins to change.

When Sin Starts to Bother You

There seems to have been a gradual progression in my own life between becoming aware of a sin, genuinely wanting it to stop, and eventually becoming sensitive enough to recognize what is happening before I act.

Sometimes that process starts after the failure.

You do something and afterward the conviction comes. You know what you did was wrong, you regret it, and you bring it to Jesus. Then perhaps the next time you recognize what is happening while you're doing it. Eventually there are occasions when you see the temptation coming and actually walk away.

I don't think this is a guaranteed progression, and it certainly hasn't been a straight line for me. Sometimes I know exactly what I should do and still choose incorrectly. But I have noticed that as my relationship with Christ has grown, the point at which I recognize the problem has gradually moved earlier.

Scripture describes a real conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. Galatians 5 says that the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. That makes sense to me because sometimes obedience genuinely feels like a tug-of-war.

Lust in particular can begin as a simple thought. If I give that thought space, it can fester and grow. The longer I entertain it, the harder it becomes to walk away from it. Anger can work the same way. I can replay an offence in my head, justify why I am angry, think about what I want to say and eventually work myself into a place where I am far more likely to lash out.

There is usually a point somewhere along the way where I know what I should do.

Sometimes I listen.

Sometimes I don't.

That is probably part of why Scripture's instruction concerning sexual immorality is so direct: flee from it. There are temptations where standing around trying to prove how strong you are is probably the worst strategy available. Sometimes the right response is simply to get away from it before you have given it enough room to become stronger.

That is also where integrity becomes important to me. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. There are sins that can be hidden very easily from the people around us, but following Christ cannot simply be about appearing Christian when other Christians are watching. Eventually I have to decide who I am going to be when the decision is between me and Christ and nobody else will ever know.

Even when I make the right decision, however, that doesn't mean I always feel great about it. Sometimes walking away brings relief. Other times there is almost a fear-of-missing-out feeling afterward because the flesh still wanted what I refused it.

The desire doesn't always disappear simply because I chose correctly.

Grace Does Not Mean the Fight Is Over

This is where I think we have to be careful when talking about Christians continuing to sin.

It can become all too easy to abuse grace. If I know Jesus offers forgiveness, I can begin using that knowledge as an excuse: I can always ask forgiveness afterward.

Paul deals with essentially that argument in Romans 6 when he asks whether we should continue in sin so that grace may increase. His answer is emphatically no. He connects our baptism into Jesus Christ with walking in a new life.

We are supposed to be transformed.

So I don't believe recurring sin should simply be shrugged off with, “Nobody is perfect.” If I know something is sinful, I should be fighting against it. If my anger is hurting the people I love, forgiveness doesn't give me permission to keep hurting them. If I know lust is gaining control of my thoughts, grace isn't an excuse to continue feeding it.

At the same time, I have learned that individual failures can distort the way I see the larger battle.

The failures are much more poignant than the successes.

I can successfully walk away from temptation several times and then give in once, and guess which one stays with me? The failure. It becomes easy to look at that moment and convince myself that nothing has changed.

But if I once entertained something freely and now regularly resist it, something has changed. If I once enjoyed unleashing my anger and now increasingly recognize it and walk away, something has changed.

The failure still matters. It still needs repentance. But it doesn't erase every place where Christ has already been changing me.

Don't use your victories to excuse your failures, but don't use your failures to deny your growth.

What If I Have Already Asked Forgiveness for This?

This is where recurring sin becomes particularly difficult for me.

When I fall back into something I have already brought to Jesus, much of the shame comes from one thought:

I cannot believe I did this again.

After enough times, another question follows.

Do I even deserve to ask for forgiveness again?

That is a difficult question because the uncomfortable truth is that if I am genuinely repentant, I need to ask for forgiveness as often as I need forgiveness. But I also cannot use that forgiveness as permission to deliberately continue doing whatever I want.

First John holds those two ideas together better than I ever could. John tells believers that he is writing so that they will not sin, but then immediately says that if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father: Jesus Christ.

We are called away from sin while simultaneously being told where to go when we fall.

I also have to remember that asking whether I deserve to come back gets grace backward. I didn't earn Christ's forgiveness the first time. The question isn't whether I have finally become worthy of forgiveness. The question is whether I actually believe the forgiveness Christ offers applies to me too.

That can be harder than it sounds.

Bringing the shame of repeated failure to Jesus is difficult, and I am not particularly good at it either. Sometimes it feels easier to sit in the failure for a while. But sitting there doesn't make me more righteous. It just keeps my eyes fixed on myself.

I need to learn to fix my eyes on Jesus.

There is a reason Romans 8 follows Paul's discussion of sin, the flesh and our inability to rescue ourselves. It begins with the declaration that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and continues by describing life through the Spirit.

That doesn't eliminate repentance. It gives repentance somewhere to go.

Christian maturity is not reaching a point where I no longer need the grace of Christ. If anything, becoming more aware of what is inside me has made me understand why I need Him so much.

Run Back to the Father

If you are a new Christian wondering why becoming a Christian hasn't made sin easier to stop, I don't think your entire Christian life should be judged by the last time you failed.

Look at the direction you are moving.

Are you becoming more aware of sin? Does something you once tolerated now bother you? Are you beginning to recognize temptation earlier? Are there occasions when you now walk away from something you once would have entertained? Do you genuinely want Christ to change what remains?

Those questions don't excuse your failures, but they may help you recognize transformation that is already happening.

And when you do fail, don't make the mistake of allowing the failure itself to push you away from Jesus.

Confess it. Ask forgiveness. If you hurt someone, make it right with them. If something repeatedly leads you into temptation, stop pretending you need to prove you can handle it and get away from it. Then get up and continue learning to walk by the Spirit.

I still struggle with lust. I still struggle with anger. I still sometimes recognize the right choice and make the wrong one anyway. I still have moments when I cannot believe I am asking Jesus to forgive me for something I have already brought to Him before.

But I am not where I was.

And when I fall, the answer is not to hide from the One who is changing me.

The shame of sin will feel like failure, but you must return to the Father.

Do not allow your sin to drive you further from Christ.

Stand Firm in the Faith

The Christian walk is not a promise that every struggle will disappear. We are called to remain watchful, stand firm in the faith, and continue following Christ even when the battle is difficult.

The Stand Firm — 1 Corinthians 16:13 Premium Embroidered Christian Hoodie was created around that same call to perseverance—a reminder to remain faithful and keep our eyes on Christ when following Him requires strength.