Have you noticed that sometimes the reason we aren’t overcoming a fault is that we haven’t fully intended to? We make some mild efforts to change but they don’t work. Then one day we decide to put our full effort into it and presto – the fault is gone! But we also have another kind of experience with overcoming a fault: failure, in spite of all our efforts.
“I keep trying to stop doing this, but it doesn’t work.” We’ve probably all said this at some point. We ask God for help, read books, study Scripture, and exercise our willpower, but nothing works. And the fault lives on.
Why do we have such different experiences with becoming holy? Because some changes are within our character, and some are not. What do I mean by this? There are some changes that God has already equipped us to make, and success is only dependent on fulfilling our responsibility: making the kinds of efforts God directs us to make in Scripture. We already have enough Christlike character to choose the good way.
But there are also some changes that are not within our character. No matter how much effort we make we can’t stop saying the mean words, or watching the ungodly show, or being angry at our boss. This is because we don’t have enough of the character of Christ for overcoming a fault. Maybe we can succeed a few times but we can’t be consistent.
So the key is understanding what changes are within our character and what changes are not. This is a very helpful principle for our spiritual life because the road to becoming “more than conquerors” with our faults is very different depending on whether or not the change is within our character. In other words our spiritual road has a fork in it, and we need to know how to choose.
The process works something like this. When we become aware of a fault and believe that we need to “make no provision for the flesh” (Rom. 13:14), then we go to God and ask for help and set our hearts on depending on Him and then we take the normal steps of considering the situation and coming up with strategies for overcoming a fault We might focus on a few verses, ask for prayer, and then try to focus on God and resist the temptation when it arises.
If this works then we know that the task was within our character. We were already mature enough to “just do it” as we abide in Christ.
But if this doesn’t work then we need to take a different approach for overcoming a fault. We need to come before God and say “I can’t do it.” It is best to just keep ourselves in an attitude of need and request His grace. We need an actual inflow of His power, whether we actually feel it at the time or not. It would also be good to admit our need to a wise counselor to whom we can reveal our heart and who will give us guidance. We will need to examine our hearts for root issues that need to be dealt with. Maybe we still need to go through the process of deep forgiveness of another person for something in our past (for a guide to healing past hurts see our page here). Maybe we have an unhealthy attachment to something that we need to let go of. Maybe we need to learn a deeper level of dependence on God. These approaches for overcoming a fault usually take time.
Thus, if a fault is beyond our character, we need to be in more of a seeking and receiving mode rather than in an active effort mode. We need to do some deeper work before we can succeed in overcoming a fault. This is why it is important to discern as soon as possible whether a goal is beyond our character. If we keep trying to overcome a fault primarily with action and intention and we keep failing, then we get discouraged and want to give up. Instead, we can discover another path to change that involves a deeper surrender and dependence on God and His people. This will produce true growth in Christlike character.
