Romans 6:23 (CSB)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Have you ever felt frustrated by certain sins that keep recurring in your life? You get control over them for a short time, and then next thing you know, they're springing back up and wreaking havoc. Having a sin problem in your heart is much like having a weed problem in your yard. If you’ve ever mowed a yard full of weeds, you know what I'm talking about. Weeds pop up and grow fast and sporadically. But when you mow, your yard looks nice and smooth, like it's covered in beautiful, lush grass. But give it a few days, and the weeds pop back up again, exposing the reality of your weed problem.
The same can be true when you have a sin problem in your heart. Through behavior modification, you can mow over the sin and make it look all nice, even making everything appear tidy and neat. But before you know it, sin begins to flare up again, revealing the ugly truth that you have some troubling roots hidden beneath the surface.
The only way to effectively deal with weeds and sin is to eliminate their roots. When weeds are poisoned, the poison goes to the root of the weed and totally wipes out its life source. The weed dies, leaving space for beautiful grass to grow in its place. The same is true for sin. Far too many Christians are relying on behavior modification and simply mowing over the sin problem in their lives.
In Kingdom living, as we live out our identity and position in Christ Jesus, we experience a life-transforming love that changes us at the deepest core of who we are (2 Cor. 5:17). This love does something very amazing in our hearts: it produces the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23) while simultaneously poisoning the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19–20).
When you experience life transformation, the frustrating work of behavior modification is no longer necessary. There isn't much room for sin to take root in your heart when the love of Christ has truly transformed it and you're putting the Kingdom of God first. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying you will never sin, but what I am saying is that when you do sin, you will feel the deep conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8) and the need to confess and repent, uprooting the sin in its initial stages before it is able to gain any ground in your heart.
If you have a weed problem, it's time to get off the lawn mower and get out the weed killer. It's going to take a little extra time and a little extra effort to cultivate a life-transforming relationship with Jesus (John 15:5), but in time, you'll be glad you did. In the long run, the person who takes the extra time to kill the weeds in their yard has a much more beautiful yard that's easier to maintain. When they mow their yard, the grass grows back smoothly and considerably more neatly than it did when it was covered in weeds.
You uproot sin in your heart when you seek first the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33) by spending time with Him daily and cultivating your relationship through healthy communication, which is prayer and Bible reading. Your flesh will try to convince you just to hurry up and mow down the weeds (behavior modification) because it's faster and much more efficient in the moment. But you will continue in the cycle of behavior modification frustration.
You must remember that behavior modification is only temporary, and life transformation is eternal. It's time to break the cycle of mowing over sin and merely feeling better for a day or two. Today, right here in this moment, I encourage you to make the decision to give your life over to King Jesus. Allow Him to reign and rule over every aspect of your life. You do this by seeking first the Kingdom of God and cultivating a deep, intimate relationship with Him. This is what you were created for; He has a Kingdom purpose for your life, and you will only realize it when you discover Him.