if i'm honest

This is not an easy thing to write about, but it is the reason that I created this blog. There is a story behind the purpose and title of this blog along with the year 2016. I guess you could say that this topic is hard to understand, hard to identify and it is a hard thing to share with other people. 

I named this post if I'm honest, based off the song title of Francesca Battistelli If We're Honest. 

This song spoke deep into the corners of my heart when I was struggling with what I was watching and viewing on the internet. 

There are a lot of different types of sins that can occur in so many different places in our lives, but a lot of it can stem from our use of the internet. 

Would I consider it pornography? No, but I was definitely on the path towards it. 

Sin is sin no matter what you label it. It doesn't have to be labeled "drugs", "adultery" or "porn" for it to be sin.

Sin is sin. And it is painful.

1 Corinthians 10:23 "You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'--but not everything is good for you. You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'--but not everything is beneficial."  

Anything that is not good, pure, trustworthy or honorable, it should be tossed from our lives, and if a sin becomes a habit in our life that we struggle with, we should repent of it and turn away.

 Just because something isn't label-able doesn't mean it is what we should be doing. 

Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." 

It was hard to be honest to people in my life about what I was struggling with, especially when this specific sin is a hard thing to explain without being too specific. Anyone that has been in my shoes (and I have had one person in my life that impacted me and God used her in my life to show me the way) knows that it can often be hard because we feel like we can't explain what we are struggling with. However, I know I am not the only one out there that has struggled with this, and I want to help others find victory as well. 

 It was hard to find complete freedom from my sin and comes to terms with the grace of God that would get me through the regrets and consequences I was experiencing from my choices that impacted my thinking. It was also a harder battle to come to the realization that it was NOT on my own that I could find victory over sin. It was through Christ. 

Hints the name of my blog: Victory~found through Christ.

This is the purpose of my blog: to share the news of Christ and the way that HE gives us victory to overcome anything or any sin that is consuming our life.

When we are in Christ, we now have a power within us that can allow us to break from that sin. 

2016 is my year of victory from the things of the internet that vie for my attention. 

If we are honest with those in our life, Christ can use that vulnerability and honesty to work in our lives and bring real life accountability. Every time we speak out against Satan, the less power he has over us. 

Even though there are often a lot of tears, being honest about what we are struggling with and allowing ourselves to share that with God and others so that we can held accountable to following God is the best choice. 

What do you need to be honest about with those in your life?