What's the deal? I don't watch much TV, but what little I do watch seems to be nothing but repeats ... and it's not even daylight savings time yet! What's the deal with early re-runs? Seems like the only time when we see new shows is during the sweeps weeks.

I wonder how God keeps from feeling the same way about our tendency to repeat the same sins again and again. In my mind, I can just imagine the Father voicing his disappointment and frustration to the hosts of heaven:

"Oh great, Michael, here he goes again! Stuck in that same ol' sin rut with little desire to do anything about it."

"Oh my, Gabriel, do you think she will ever take her commitment to follow my Son seriously?"

Yep, most of us have what I call "silver bullet sins" — these are special sins that the evil one knows will hurt us. Our vulnerability to them allows Satan to shoot temptation at our hearts and derail our spiritual walk with the Lord because we can't seem to overcome them. For some, their "silver bullet sin" may be gossip, arrogance, greed, selfishness, an addiction, lust, vile or profane speech, stealing, slander, ... But if we are honest with ourselves, we know there is a "silver bullet sin" that is our own. It is the one that guarantees that the Father and the host of heaven will have to face some seasons of sinful re-runs before we start a new season of fresh living.

Satan would have us believe that these re-runs are inevitable. He mocks our hope at maturing spiritually. He works aggressively to keep us discouraged by our repeated failures. Our Father in heaven, however, would have us know that our re-runs are not inevitable! There are three reasons for us to believe him and not the vile mocker who seeks to harm us.

First, "the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." (1 John 4:4 NLT)
We are God's children and God's Spirit lives in us! The Spirit helps us overcome our sinful behaviors (Romans 8:12-14) and works to transform us to be more like Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) While this doesn't happen over night, it does happen as the Spirit produces God's fruit in us. (Galatians 5:22-23) As long as we open ourselves up to the Spirit's work, God is at work to grow us into someone new, fresh, and holy!

Second, God's children don't have re-runs!
If we are seeking to follow God and live his life in the world, Jesus' blood that cleansed us and made us holy when we first came to Christ (Colossians 1:19-21) continues to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7) When we confess our sin, God forgives us and cleanses us. (1 John 1:9) Our sin is gone — erased from God's memory and from us. (Psalm 103:8-12) While Satan may trip us up on the same kind of temptation, the previous sin is gone and each stumble is a new one. We're not stuck in an endless loop.

Our season of re-runs can end.
Third, we are not alone in our Christian life.
We are given the gift of Christian fellowship and assembly to encourage us on the life we want to live for God. (Hebrews 10:19-25) We are to help each other when we stumble and let sin take control in our lives. (Galatians 6:1-2; James 5:19-20) When one of Jesus' followers wanders away, we are to help bring that person back to Jesus. (Matthew 18:12-14) Our life together can help us grow to become more like Christ as we live to help others do the same.

Does this mean that one day we will be done with our own personal set of re-runs? Yes, it does. God's triumph can and will help us ultimately overcome our "silver bullet sins." It won't necessarily be easy or quick, but the season of re-runs can end. So rather than trying to deal with your "silver bullet sins" alone ...

Why not confess them to the Lord and seek the help of a spiritual mentor to help you overcome them.

Why not remind yourself of the Holy Spirit's work in you and seek to be filled with the Spirit?

Why not answer back the mocking voice in your head that allows Satan to belittle you and remind yourself of God's truth. "I am loved. I am forgiven. I am a child of the King. I am filled with the Holy Spirit. I am being transformed to become more like Jesus. I am part of a community of flawed people who are gradually being perfected. So I refuse to believe the Devil's lies that I can never become what God wants me to be. I trust that when I sin God forgives me and cleanses me. I commit this day to live for God and trust that he will strengthen, sustain, and mature me. When I fall, I will get up. When I fail, I will not quit. When I sin, I will not stay in sin. I choose to have my re-runs end."