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Those who have been born from God don’t live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can’t live sinful lives. They have been born from God.

1 John 3:9

Do you feel the need to sin? Are there areas in your life where you can’t do without some delightful or refreshing sin in your life? Sin isn’t always dark and ominous; sometimes it seems bright and wonderful. It’s a date with a gorgeous guy who doesn’t believe in God. It’s a chance to go somewhere everyone is going but you are forbidden to go. Sin offers a big payoff, and that’s why resisting it can be so hard. But when you want only what God wants, suddenly sin doesn’t look so appealing. Its offer isn’t as enticing as before, and saying no starts to come easy.

When you want what God wants and nothing more, then living a sinful life disgusts you. You certainly don’t feel a need to sin, because you have all you need in God and God alone. If you feel a need you think only sin can fulfill, then it’s time to find out why that’s a lie and to realize that only God can meet your needs. Sin talks a good talk; it offers a lot, but in the end it delivers more pain than you bargained for. Look at what you think are your “needs,” and then look in God’s Word to find out what he has to say about them. Don’t accept the need to sin as a reality—it’s a lie. You’ve been born from God, and you therefore are no longer controlled by the power of sin.