Footholds

by Frank Worthen

When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath last until the sun goes down. Leave no such room or foothold for the devil – give no opportunity to him. (Ephesians 4:26,27)

Often, when we have just sinned, we look back on the immediate circumstances surrounding that sin and blame God, others, or some particular situation for what has happened. Some of the things we tell ourselves might be: “If someone had not said those angry words”; “If they had not cut me down”; “If things had gone better at work”; “If only I had passed that test”; “Where was that way of escape God promised me?”; “Where was God when I needed Him?” For a few moments, we believe that our circumstances are the cause of our sin, and blame-shifting has us in its grip. Eventually, after constantly reviewing the events that led up to our fall, we become exhausted and give up trying to place the blame. We simply feel rotten about what happened.

LOST HOPE: As time passes, we begin to heap blame upon ourselves and lose all hope of victory. We feel like nothing has changed. We will never live in victory and we are just scum in the sight of God. What we do not understand is that the doors were opened to sin long before the actual sin took place. There were many crossroads, many decisions that led to that eventual sin. Often, it is weeks or months before the actual event that we either thoughtlessly or even purposefully open the door to the enemy. We hand him all the tools he needs to use against us, to bring us to this place of defeat. If we search diligently and ask the Holy Spirit to bring to memory all the events leading up to our sin, we will find that it began in our mind. Whether Satanic suggestion or simply a desire of the flesh, our mind considered the sin being presented and did not react wisely. Our emotions came into play and encouraged sin to conceive (see James 1:15), and a foothold was born. Paul tells us we should have done the following:

“But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and make no provision (pronoian) for indulging the flesh, put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature—to gratify its desires, lusts.” (Romans 13:14)

HOW IT BEGINS: The word pronoian in the Greek means FORETHOUGHT. We do not enter into sin without thinking about it first. Sin starts in our mind with thoughts that are contrary to God’s will. Somewhere there has been a break in our relationship with Christ; somewhere we have come to a crossroads and have removed Jesus from “first position” in our life. We have welcomed “flesh” to rule and have allowed our emotions to control us.

Christians who live by their emotions will never lead a balanced, contented life, but will be tossed about and troubled, swirling in constant turmoil. They will be on a high one minute and in the valley of depression the next. Saint Paul spoke to the Corinthians concerning their immaturity in 1st Corinthians:

“I could not talk to you as to spiritual men, but as to nonspiritual men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates, as to mere infants…you are still unspiritual, having the nature of the flesh – under the control of ordinary impulses. For as long as there are envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere unchanged men?” (1Cor. 3:1,3)

CONTROLLING EMOTIONS: Saint Paul knew full well that those who are ruled by their emotions are under the control of their flesh. They would behave like people of the world, like those who never knew Christ. They would be unreliable and unable to serve Christ, actually hampering the work of the Kingdom. Later in the same epistle, Paul says “Do not lead others into sin by your mode of life” (1 Cor. 10:32). Our emotions lock us into a defeated life. Paul also mentions the sin of envy. Envy has opened the door and welcomed Satan in time after time in many lives. It is a strong element in homosexuality. Envy transforms our innocent admiration of others, and our longings to be like them, into same-sex lust. It provides Satan with just the foothold he needs to begin his deception that we are homosexual and can never change.

DRIFTING: Immediately upon arrival, the men in our year-long program are instructed to keep a journal. If they stumble during the year, they are then able to look back through the pages of their journal and pinpoint just when they began to stray from God’s protection. What surprises them is that it was not the immediate crisis that provoked them to sin, but there was a subtle drifting away from the things of God that began weeks or even months before. The decisions they made, and the crossroads they came to, can be clearly seen. They made wrong choices which set up a pattern of disobedience. Most often, they allowed their emotions to rule their lives, reacting to some event in anger and judgment. All this set the stage for self-pity, which then cried: “You deserve to have some fun (sin) in your life.” We are in danger when we react without first taking it to God in prayer. In difficult and unfair situations, God is our defense. He will take up our cause; we do not have to resort to self-defense. The problem is that we want immediate solutions, and will not wait for God. Now there is no need for Satan to batter down the walls of our defense, because in our compulsiveness we have just handed him the keys to our castle.

LIMITS: There are other footholds that allow Satan to have the upper hand in our lives. To some extent, these all involve our emotions, but they also involve our making bad decisions. All Christians have limits and boundaries in their lives and, if we seek the Lord, He will clearly spell out to us just how far we can go in any area. There are some things we simply cannot do if we want to maintain our victory. At no time do any of us become “Super-Christians” who can walk anywhere on earth and never be tempted. For example, unless there has been a clear call from God which has been confirmed by those He has placed in leadership over us, ex-gays should never enter a gay bar. Although intentions may be honorable and there is a desire to witness to old friends, it is a dangerous place to be and it gives the enemy many footholds to use against us.

ASSOCIATIONS: What happens when we return to an environment associated with our old lifestyle? There are very subtle forces that go to work. The mellow, worldly, sensual atmosphere dulls our desire to witness, and our desire to find approval from men returns. Since Christianity separates us from our old friends, we begin to regret that chasm and to wish that things could be like they once were. We are tempted to withhold the message that can save their lives. We are then in great danger of associations connected with the old life sweeping over us as we remember certain people and events. Music can penetrate us in a way nothing else can. We remember the fun of dancing and who we danced with. The enemy says that just one dance won’t hurt and soon a man is in our arms once again! Our efforts to see men in a new godly way have just suffered a major setback and we will have weeks or months of turmoil and temptation as a result of our wrong choices.

INFLUENCES: The things we keep around the house, the mementoes from the past, will turn our thoughts to old situations and sexual relationships we once had. These are all footholds that will be used against the new life we desire. We must not overlook the impact of the workplace on our lives. Many gay people find employment working for other gay people. If we desire things to be different for us, it means changing jobs. Spending 40 hours a week with people who tempt us back to the things of the past just isn’t wise. As it is, very few Christians spend more than a few hours a week with the things of the Lord, but are constantly bombarded, hour by hour, day by day with the influences of the enemy.

SEPARATION: Often, we must let go of old relationships and separate from those who disapprove of our Christian walk, those who liked us as we were, and who do not embrace Christ. Letting go of things is so much easier than letting go of people. But there are times when we must flee that which would ensnare us again in the yoke of bondage. Our enemy is constantly checking us out, looking for a foothold to bring havoc to our new life. As Paul said to Timothy, “Guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim. 6:20). Satan is subtle; we must be wise to his devices. Fortunately, God provides the wisdom needed to all who will ask and, if we separate ourselves from sin, He promises to purify us:

So whoever cleanses himself (from what is ignoble and unclean) who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences, will (then himself) be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work. (2 Tim. 2:21 Amp)