1. Steps to Sin and Overcoming Sin Eli Monzon CamiloGamboa Gilbert Rodriguez
2. Steps to Sin: 1 Allurement of the Senses This is the first step that leads to sin. This is a tactic that the devil uses to lure you into all that is wrong. When something or someone attracts you, it can cause you to ignore your judgment. This eventually lead to sin which pushes you away from God. Scenario: All my friends are doing drugs, and they want me to try it. They say it’s an awesome way to release stress. They have so many friends, I wish I could be like them. That drug doesn’t seem to do any harm to them.
3. Allurement of the Senses Adam and Eve fell into this tactic. When the snake persuaded her to eat from the fruit. He made everything about it seem so good, and that there were no consequences. Their judgment was impaired because of only their senses.
4. Step 2: Questioning of the Command When you do this, It causes you to try to find reasons to commit the sins. This is when thoughts of sin become more surreal. You question your parents and even God. God laid out commandments and rules in order for us to stay away from Sin. Scenario: Did God say drugs are bad? I don’t think so. I know my parents don’t want me to do it, but have they even tried it? I can’t handle all the pressure, could this help?
5. Questioning of the Command Another example of what Adam and Eve did. They thought that God was keeping power away from them. The snake deceived them into doubting the purpose of God’s command. This doubt can lead to the Sin of Pride. Satan also fell into this Sin because they all thought they didn’t need God.
6. Step 3- Toying With the Idea in the Imagination When you Imagine the idea in your head and picture yourself doing the sin. You talk to others about when you thought about doing it and you imagine the benefits of the sin without looking at the other side of the sin. Scenario- Thinking about doing drugs and putting that idea into your mind. You imagine how life would be under the influence and you dream about it and you want to do it because in your head it such an amazing thing.
7. Step 4:Concentration on the benefits of the sinful act The devil can blind you from seeing the evil in any sinful act, which will cause you to have a tunnel vision to only see the benefit, and not the consequence. Scenario: A boy sees his friends doing drugs, he only thinks of the gain he will get from it, such as the feeling and sensation. He ignores all of the harm that the drugs will cause.
8. Step 5:The free and responsible choice to sin Yes the devil can blind you from seeing evil, and yes he can lure you into committing sinful acts. But it’s on you, whether you do good or not. Scenario: A boy at school is pressured to do drugs, but he has the choice not to. He thinks of all the good things he could get from it, and all the bad things. It’s his responsibility on whether he does it or not.
9. Step 6: Shame It is the guilt you get after you have sinned, and realized what you have done. It is experienced on the inside. Scenario: A boy is caught behind his school smoking. He is sure to feel shame and guilt for what he has done.
10. Step 7: Alienation from God It is the separation between you and God. When you don’t go to church anymore, or pray. It is when you do not even acknowledge God anymore. Scenario: Addiction to drugs can cause this to happen, because you forget about all the good things in life, and you stop praying, and worshiping, and going to church, and seeing your family, and just completely stop honoring the things your Father has given you.
12. Prayer The first the last the most important defense against the devil is prayer. When you pray, you are in contact with God. When you sin, you open yourself to the devil. At the beginning of temptation we turn to prayer, it weakens the power of the devil. Scenario- Your friends want you to join them in doing drugs tomorrow. You go home that night and pray to God to weaken the power of the devils temptation and give you strength to say NO.
13. Avoid the Near Occasion of Sin Another important line of defense against sin is to avoid places or people who you think would tempt you or make you do something you know is wrong. Scenario- You are walking back home from school and there are two ways to get back home there is the long way which goes the regular street. Or there is a short cut that goes through a bad neighborhood known for its drugs. Which is the safest and best route to avoid sin or harm to yourself.
14. Speak and Live the Truth The Truth is one of the greatest weapons against sin. The devil is a constant liar and he works through deception. He is afriad of the truth and the truth weakens him. Scenario- When you go to church and preach the word of the lord you are weaking the power of the devil to tempt you. God is inside of you and the devil cant take him away from you so you are protected from his temptations.
15. Be on Guard Against Spiritual Pride When we thing that we don’t need God and we can do things our own way without his help. When we take credit for things that are actually gifts from God . We must stay away from these behaviors as it pushes ourselves away from God and we become easy targets to temptation. Scenario- We have to protect ourselves against thinking that we don’t need God and that we can do everything ourselves without God. We need to praise him and be aware that he is there with us.
16. Be Aware of How the Devil Tries to Make Evil Seem Good. The devil attempts to make everything that is bad appear catching to the eye or pleasing to the eye so you can get a physical attraction toward it. You need to know what is good and what is bad so you wont be tempted by the tricks of the devil. Scenario- To a young man, Drugs seem like a good thing to do. It relaxes you, its appealing because people who do drugs apparently have more friends. The devil tries to tempt you with relaxation and the wanting of being liked by many people and he uses that against you to turn to sin.
17. What Would Jesus Want Me to Do? When you ask this question to yourself, you go into the eyes of Jesus and his mind and you think about if Jesus was in your situation, what would he do. This a great prevention technique against sin because it puts you in Jesus’ shoes and it always brings you the right decision. Scenario- A friend asks you to smoke some drugs with him. You are there just him and you and you don’t know what to think. You put into your mind that if Jesus was there at that moment, What would he do? Would he gladly accept? Or would he turn the shoulder and say no to drugs.
18. Practice Regular Self Denial When you practice self denial regularly, you are becoming less all about you and more about God because you don't believe that everything good that happens to you is because of you but you give more thanks to God. Also Practicing great patience in suffering is a great way to keep your spirit strong through tough times. Scenario- You are faced with a tough dilemma to see if your going to do drugs or not. You think about all that God has done in your life, how he has blessed you and you are going to throw that all away?
