A picture-perfect family portrait hangs on the wall. “You have a beautiful family!” most would say. But this picture is worth far more than a thousand words. Little do “they” know, but “Jesus knows” everything. Perhaps you’ve heard jokes that “Jesus is watching you.” It’s true—he knows everything about you and me. Everything.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothly 1:7

“I just can’t help myself.”  we have all bailed out of acknowledging weakness with that stock phrase. Sometimes it is a health concern of one trying to pass up more than two donuts. Is it gluttony?  Another may be living a life they can’t afford. Greed? Or, an individual frantically tries to break out of the prison of pills or the dungeon of drugs. Addiction? Someone else is willingly robbed by the one-armed bandit of gambling. Deserting the family? Maybe he only told one white lie, then another to avoid conflict. Pathological lier? Another tries to swim out of the cesspool of pornography, only to find the current of erotica a deadly undertow that undermines marriage and family and even self-esteem. Is porn your god?  And while judging others, those wandering eyes or acting on lust. A cheater? Sexual sin? While yet another may reach for the bottle thinking it is a healing for all their troubles. An alcoholic? You are not alone. We are all sinful from birth.

Your plea has already been heard on the pages of Scripture. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galation 5:16

Realize that no human being can pull himself or herself out of such peril. The Bible accurately portrays the frantic efforts. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Why can’t I stop? Because I cannot, not by my own strength or efforts.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Yet do not despair. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus means Savior, and he can pull us up out of addictions and rescue us from ourselves. Jesus loves you enough to send concerned family or friends to support you. Jesus loves you enough to provide the blessing of professional medical help and therapy. Jesus extends his hand of healing in so many ways. Jesus loves you enough to hear the desperation in your prayers and quietly promise you, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Read more about sin’s destruction in your Bible.

• Pride: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
• Envy: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30).
• Wrath: “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil” (Psalm 37:8).
• Sloth: “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor” (Proverbs 21:25).
• Greed: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).
• Gluttony: “For drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags” (Proverbs 23:21).
• Lust: “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).

The Answer to Sin. Our reassurance from God through Jesus Christ.

• 2 Corinthians 5:19: “…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.”
• Romans 5:18: “Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.”
• 1 John 2:2: “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
• Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
• Galatians 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…”
• Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
• Romans 3:23-24: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
• Romans 4:5: “However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:3: “…no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
• Romans 10:17: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
• Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
• James 2:17: “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Where does our help come from?

Still need reassurance? Read Psalm 121