We can’t understand Jesus as the Savior if we don’t acknowledge that we have something to be saved from- our sin. Dave “Prideful Self-Exaltation” VanVickle and I discuss why we need to face the reality of sin if we truly want to live in the freedom of Christ.
Snippet of the Show
“Every offering of grace is a promise that your sin does not define you eternally.”
Shownotes
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What is Sin?
- Sin is always an offense against God.
- When we sin, we reject God’s love and turn our hearts away from God.
- We are all born in bondage to sin because of the fall, but Christ came to free us from the captivity of sin.
- We often struggle with the nature of sin because it feels like God’s laws are impositions against our freedom.
- We have a broken notion of freedom. We define it as doing whatever we want, whenever we want. However, true freedom is living according to God’s plan of love for our lives and conforming our nature to Christ.
- In order to live in God’s loving plan for our lives, we have to be willing to remove sin from our lives, which requires death to self. That death of self is a prerequisite to following Jesus.
- Sin often makes us feel comfortable being dead internally, and it can be hard to sometimes let go of our sins because we grow so comfortable with them. Uprooting our sins from our lives is often a difficult process in the beginning, but persevere in the struggle because the sweetness of Christ’s freedom is real.
- If we repeat the same sins over and over again, those sins becomes more entrenched in our soul.
Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root.– CCC 186
Practical Takeaways:
How to Combat Sin:
- Communion Novenas
Receiving communion nine days in a row to uproot a specific sin. - Community
Find someone who can hold you accountable.
“If you want to be forgiven go to confession, if you want to be transformed go to community.”
Resources
- Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com
- Text “EKSB” to 33-777 to subscribe and be added to Gomer and Dave’s email list
- Visit Dave’s website www.thecatholictruthaboutangelsanddemons.com and www.artofevangelization.com
- Visit Mike’s website at www.layevangelist.com
- Broken and Blessed by Fr. Josh Johnson
- Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings.
Meet Your Hosts
Michael “Gomer” Gormley
Michael spent 17 years in full-time parish ministry and is now the Mission Evangelist for That Man Is You!, a men’s apostolate for Paradisus Dei. Michael is a frequent speaker at conferences, retreats, and parish missions all over the US and Canada.
He is the founder and creative director of LayEvangelist.com, and hosts three Catholic podcasts: Every Knee Shall Bow, Catching Foxes, and Becoming God.
Michael is married to his college sweetheart, Shannon, and has four beautiful and hilarious children: Kateri, Cecilia, Noah, and Thomas.
Dave VanVickle
Dave VanVickle fell in love with the Lord at the age of fourteen and has since dedicated his life to bringing others into a radical relationship with Christ.
He is a speaker and retreat leader who focuses on proclaiming the universal call to holiness, authentic Catholic spirituality, spiritual warfare and deliverance. Additionally, Dave has over ten years of experience assisting priests with their ministries of exorcism and deliverance.
Dave married his late wife Amber in 2010. He now resides in Pittsburgh with his five children: Sam, Max, Judah, Josie and Louisa.
