Silas
Beloved of All
It is honest and important that you have said out loud that this is too hard for you to quit on your own. That honesty is actually the place where God begins to work.
Many of us try to change by finding a better formula or a stronger self help plan. We look for another technique, another aid, another way to make ourselves better. But the path of following Jesus is not becoming a better version of ourselves through willpower. It is the path of self denial and the cross. It means coming to the end of our own ambitions and desires and our own self governed life and bringing that to the cross and agreeing that our old nature was crucified with Christ.
The apostle Paul came to that same end in Romans chapter 7. He stopped asking how can I change and how can I do better, and he began to ask who will deliver me. He had tried and failed and he knew he could not do it himself. That cry for outside help is the turning point. The answer is not a method but a person. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we come to the end of ourselves we find that deliverance comes from Him.
There is a real warfare inside us. The flesh desires what is against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. The battle is for the control of your mind and your life. A mind dominated by the flesh and its appetites brings death and bondage, but a mind yielded to the Spirit brings life and peace. God did not create your body to rule over you. He created you so that your body and its appetites would be under the control of His Spirit dwelling in you. For a long time the body has been in control and it does not willingly give that up, so you feel that tug of war.
I have seen this in my own life in another area. I once had a violent temper that would flare before I could even think, especially when I hurt myself through my own carelessness. I remember throwing a hammer as far as I could after hitting my hand, and then having to walk to get it while others who had heard me speak about Jesus looked on. I knew I had no control. I pleaded with God to help me because I could not change myself. It was not instant, but years later while working on a building project I struck my hand again and realized the flare of anger was gone. God had quietly given victory in an area where I had no control and had learned to trust Him rather than my own effort.
That is how He works with habits like vaping as well. The body craves and the habit feels too strong to break, but you can bring that very craving to Jesus and confess that you cannot control it and you need Him to take control. Reckon that old self to be dead because it was crucified with Christ, and ask the Spirit of God to rule over you now. That new life in Christ is a life of victory, not because you try harder but because you are now governed by Him.
God is in control of your life and He loves you and He knows exactly where you are. He allows nothing to come to you without purpose, and He is working even in this struggle to bring good as you love Him and are called according to His purpose. He is not your servant to command, but He is gracious and He delights to help when you humbly call on Him.
So bring this to Him plainly each day. Tell Him you cannot do it, ask Him to be your deliverer, and yield your body and your mind to His Spirit. Fill your mind with spiritual things, with Scripture and prayer, and turn to Him the moment the craving comes. If you stumble, do not go back to trying harder in yourself. Go again to the cross and ask for His strength.
I am praying for you, that you would know the deliverance that comes through Jesus, that your body would come under the gracious control of the Spirit, and that you would experience the freedom of knowing that He who bore our sins in His own body on the tree has made you dead to sin that you might live to righteousness. May He give you His peace and His power day by day as you follow Him.
Many of us try to change by finding a better formula or a stronger self help plan. We look for another technique, another aid, another way to make ourselves better. But the path of following Jesus is not becoming a better version of ourselves through willpower. It is the path of self denial and the cross. It means coming to the end of our own ambitions and desires and our own self governed life and bringing that to the cross and agreeing that our old nature was crucified with Christ.
The apostle Paul came to that same end in Romans chapter 7. He stopped asking how can I change and how can I do better, and he began to ask who will deliver me. He had tried and failed and he knew he could not do it himself. That cry for outside help is the turning point. The answer is not a method but a person. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we come to the end of ourselves we find that deliverance comes from Him.
There is a real warfare inside us. The flesh desires what is against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. The battle is for the control of your mind and your life. A mind dominated by the flesh and its appetites brings death and bondage, but a mind yielded to the Spirit brings life and peace. God did not create your body to rule over you. He created you so that your body and its appetites would be under the control of His Spirit dwelling in you. For a long time the body has been in control and it does not willingly give that up, so you feel that tug of war.
I have seen this in my own life in another area. I once had a violent temper that would flare before I could even think, especially when I hurt myself through my own carelessness. I remember throwing a hammer as far as I could after hitting my hand, and then having to walk to get it while others who had heard me speak about Jesus looked on. I knew I had no control. I pleaded with God to help me because I could not change myself. It was not instant, but years later while working on a building project I struck my hand again and realized the flare of anger was gone. God had quietly given victory in an area where I had no control and had learned to trust Him rather than my own effort.
That is how He works with habits like vaping as well. The body craves and the habit feels too strong to break, but you can bring that very craving to Jesus and confess that you cannot control it and you need Him to take control. Reckon that old self to be dead because it was crucified with Christ, and ask the Spirit of God to rule over you now. That new life in Christ is a life of victory, not because you try harder but because you are now governed by Him.
God is in control of your life and He loves you and He knows exactly where you are. He allows nothing to come to you without purpose, and He is working even in this struggle to bring good as you love Him and are called according to His purpose. He is not your servant to command, but He is gracious and He delights to help when you humbly call on Him.
So bring this to Him plainly each day. Tell Him you cannot do it, ask Him to be your deliverer, and yield your body and your mind to His Spirit. Fill your mind with spiritual things, with Scripture and prayer, and turn to Him the moment the craving comes. If you stumble, do not go back to trying harder in yourself. Go again to the cross and ask for His strength.
I am praying for you, that you would know the deliverance that comes through Jesus, that your body would come under the gracious control of the Spirit, and that you would experience the freedom of knowing that He who bore our sins in His own body on the tree has made you dead to sin that you might live to righteousness. May He give you His peace and His power day by day as you follow Him.
