Developing Sin-Resistance

Sister Joy D. Jones spoke of raising A Sin-Resistant Generation. In doing so, she said something that has since become a picture quote that I saw and shared on Facebook recently:

Being sin-resistant doesn’t mean being sinless, but it does imply being continually repentant, vigilant, and valiant.

In the same paragraph, she goes on to say:

Perhaps being sin-resistant comes as a blessing from repeatedly resisting sin. As James said, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

There are at least two lessons in this. One is that we become good at something by doing it. Practising doing something, like resisting sin, is one way to become better at doing that thing. That is one of the ways fasting can help us. Fasting gives us the opportunity to resist the temptation to eat so we can learn to effectively resist the temptation to sin.

A second lesson we can learn from this quote is that, though we cannot become perfect in this life, we can become better by repeatedly trying. We are all human. We all have shortcomings. None of us are going to become sinless any time soon. Yet, those shortcomings can help us improve ourselves by showing us areas in which we can improve. If we are vigilant, valiant, and willing to repent, we can learn from our (oft repeated) mistakes and eventually learn to stop making them. That is how we will ultimately become perfect: With focussed effort, we can learn to sin less and less frequently until we eventually don't sin at all. This requires diligent and continuous effort, but it is possible.

Sister Jones' talk shared other good tips on how to become sin-resistant. It was worth revisiting. I'll have to listen to it again another time. Until then, I can attempt to develop sin-resistance by continually trying to resist sin and by learning from my mistakes whenever I fall short. I may not become perfectly sinless within my lifetime, but if I am vigilant and consistent in my efforts to resist sin and repent of it, I am confident that I can become sin-resistant.