Should I not dedicate my life to Jesus if I know for sure that I'm going to sin over & over again?

[nervex]

Hi I'm a married male in my 50s. I know my question probably doesn't even make sense as dedicating one's life to Jesus means not sinning, or at least trying not to sin. For many years I have felt drawn to live my life for Jesus, but I have not been saved because I know for sure that I'm going to sin again - and my life is a mess. I know everybody sins at some time, even those who have been saved, but I plan to sin. At certain times, I tell myself that I should pray to God and let Him know that I'm planning to sin but that I will spend more time praying than I will sinning. It just doesn't feel right though. When I say sin, I mean things like refusing to forgive certain people and looking at members of the opposite sex in an ungodly way and flirting. Should I start praying anyway and see if God can help me stop? I'll feel like a hypocrite. Thank you in advance to anyone who wants to weigh in on this.

 

[LOOKING]

It is impossible to completely stop sinning.

Accept yourself as you are because there is no alternative. Don’t strive for perfection based on an imagined ideal, as nobody is perfect. Even Jesus said that no one is good—not even Himself—but only God (Mark 10:18).

Here’s something surprising: you are perfect just as you are. Nothing about you needs to be changed, but you do need to learn how to relate to yourself in a healthier, more compassionate way.

Sins aren’t arbitrary rules imposed by God. Rather, they are actions or behaviors that harm us, make us miserable, and lead us nowhere. They are mistakes that detract from the fullness of life. Take drinking, for example: addictions can be physical, but they can also be mental. Both create suffering and prevent growth. When you stop sinning, you feel better. You experience peace. But when you sin, a part of your inner self feels disturbed and restless.

Understand this clearly: by engaging in actions that harm you, you are missing out on a better life—not in some distant future, but right now. Look at these behaviors with a calm and rational mind. You’ll see that they don’t lead anywhere; they trap you in an endless loop until you recognize how futile and self-destructive they are.

Once you understand this truth, find something that inspires and motivates you to pursue good actions. There is always something that can ignite this drive within you. Focus on it.

Don’t resist evil (Matthew 5:39); instead, search for God. Look inward and find that inner desire for connection with the divine. Let this motivation guide you toward peace and fulfillment.

Hope this helps

 

[Tenchi]

Hi I'm a married male in my 50s. I know my question probably doesn't even make sense as dedicating one's life to Jesus means not sinning, or at least trying not to sin.

Um, the idea of dedicating yourself to Jesus mistakes what it is to know and walk with God, which is what being a Christian is at its core. It's exactly because you don't have it in you to be who God wants you to be that you need Jesus. It's precisely because you are without power, weak, and sinful, and in rebellion toward God that you must come to Him for His transformation of you. Here's what the Bible says is true of every person who comes to God for reconciliation to Him, forgiveness and cleansing:

Titus 3:3-7
3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Romans 5:6-11
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.



When you, by trusting in Jesus as your Savior and submitting to him as your Lord (Romans 10:9-10), come into relationship with God, it is as one who can only receive God's saving work; you can contribute nothing to your salvation because you are, apart from God, helpless and enslaved to the World, your own flesh and the devil (Ephesians 2:1-3).

So, then, God does not intend that you should stop yourself from sinning. You can't. Really, idea of stopping yourself is not unlike thinking that, if you're dying from having taken poison, that you ought to take more of the poison to cure yourself of its lethal effect. Obviously, you can't save yourself from a deadly poison by consuming more of it. In the same way, you can't find in yourself what you need to be the man God wants you to be. All you can produce is you. And doing so has poisoned you spiritually, fouling things between you and God and setting you on a course for eternal hell. This is why you need a Savior who will save you, not just from the deadly effects of your God-independent Self, but who will also free you from the power of that God-independent Self who is the Ultimate Source of all your sin.

Romans 8:6-8
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Apart from God, we are all this flesh-minded person who is utterly unable to please God. How, then, can you or I think we are saved in order to change ourselves and make ourselves pleasing to God? If we had the power to do that, we wouldn't need a Savior.

For many years I have felt drawn to live my life for Jesus, but I have not been saved because I know for sure that I'm going to sin again - and my life is a mess.

Yup. And this is why God never says to us in His word that we should think to change ourselves for Him. No, He says that He will change us as we live in constant submission to His will and way.

Philippians 1:6
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:13
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Ephesians 3:16
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 )
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

God won't force His changes on His children; they must be agreeing to His transformation of them day-by-day, sometimes many times a day. And they do so by explicitly, consciously submitting to the control of the Holy Spirit. God, you see, won't transform rebels, which is the only thing we can be if we aren't submitted to His will and way.

James 4:6-10
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Romans 6:13
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Romans 12:1
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 8:14
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

1 Peter 5:6
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

I know everybody sins at some time, even those who have been saved, but I plan to sin. At certain times, I tell myself that I should pray to God and let Him know that I'm planning to sin but that I will spend more time praying than I will sinning. It just doesn't feel right though. When I say sin, I mean things like refusing to forgive certain people and looking at members of the opposite sex in an ungodly way and flirting. Should I start praying anyway and see if God can help me stop? I'll feel like a hypocrite. Thank you in advance to anyone who wants to weigh in on this.

God has made us to follow our strongest desires either to avoid pain or to pursue some pleasure or other. And so, when He acts upon His children to change them, He starts with what they want, cooling inordinately inflamed natural impulses and desires, dissolving evil desires, and instituting in His children new desires, godly desires. This is a process, of course, that occurs in tandem with His children's agreement (i.e. submission) to His alteration of their desires.

The moment a person is saved, however, they are changed fundamentally, and made a "new creature in Christ" in whom "old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17). A big part of living the Christian life is learning to stand by faith upon what God has said is the truth about His children. Doing this goes hand-in-hand with learning to live in constant submission to His will and way. "The just shall live by faith," the Bible says and "we walk by faith, not by sight" (Galatians 3:11; 2 Corinthians 5:7). This is true in part because often what God says is true of His child, they don't feel or experience as true. Only when, in submission to God, they stand by faith on what God has said is true of them will they begin to experience the truth of their "new creature" identity in Jesus Christ.

So, anyway, understand that it isn't all on you to be who God wants you to be. The Christian life is the process of His transformation of you, not your transformation of yourself for Him.

 

[for_his_glory]

The more you draw yourself into Christ by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior and having that personal relationship with Him the more He will help you in the areas of your weakness. None of us are perfect on our own and we will stumble and fall at times, but if we are truly walking in the Spirit we will no longer walk in the flesh as we live our life to be pleasing unto the Lord.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

 

[Who Me]

I know my question probably doesn't even make sense as dedicating one's life to Jesus means not sinning, or at least trying not to sin.

Becoming a Christian is because one believes Christianity is True.
It is not about feelings, or about being ' good ' or not sinning, but whether you accept the historical facts of Jesus, his life, death, burial and resurrection.

Do you currently attend a church? If not start.
May I suggest that you check the Christianityexplored Web site for churches in your area that run this course.
If there is a course starting sign up for it, otherwise try attending one of these churches.

Christians are not sinless Saints but rather they are sinners saved by grace who still struggle with sin.

May I challenge you?
John3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Where do you stand?
Do you believe and is that visible in your life, or does verse 18 apply to you?

There is no middle ground.

 

[LeviR]

What is piety without knowledge. And what is knowledge without piety.

 

[Whatever]

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) was born in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother. Following a youth and an early career steeped in debauchery and ambition, Augustine experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity when he turned from his pagan beliefs. His classic book Confessions details his conversion story and, to this day, remains a perennial bestseller.

I remember he had a mistress he did not want to stop seeing. He would pray to God to release him from this desire, but then would add "but not today."

Psalm 130:3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

All you can do is keep trying, praying and confessing.

 

[Vinny37]

Hi I'm a married male in my 50s. I know my question probably doesn't even make sense as dedicating one's life to Jesus means not sinning, or at least trying not to sin. For many years I have felt drawn to live my life for Jesus, but I have not been saved because I know for sure that I'm going to sin again - and my life is a mess. I know everybody sins at some time, even those who have been saved, but I plan to sin. At certain times, I tell myself that I should pray to God and let Him know that I'm planning to sin but that I will spend more time praying than I will sinning. It just doesn't feel right though. When I say sin, I mean things like refusing to forgive certain people and looking at members of the opposite sex in an ungodly way and flirting. Should I start praying anyway and see if God can help me stop? I'll feel like a hypocrite. Thank you in advance to anyone who wants to weigh in on this.

I note your sincerity, although to some extent you’re putting cart before horse. By [my life for Jesus] it’s more [my life unto Jesus]: it’s a direction for your benefit, not a gift for his benefit. [I have not been saved] I’d put as [I have not fully benefitted by committing to Christ]. I think John White’s Eros Defiled (on sexual sin) used the illustration of a ball of wool with many knots in it. White, a psychiatrist and former homosexual, advised that we neither fixate on the knots nor on the order in which they are unknotted. That is, as we seek with Christ’s help to walk with the spirit, with help we’ll get those knots unknotted in God’s order. Sure, resentment is a biggy, but I think the trick is not to try to solve it all for God and then take his hand, but begin by taking the hand of the helper. Spiritual life with Christ is more than sorting out messy heads and hearts and hands. Hypocrisy if from a Greek term which means two-faced. To some extent all Christians are hypocrites in that they have an old Adam nature and a new Adam (ie Christ) nature. Christian life is a transition from the one into the other (Eph.4:22-4). You might enjoy https://archive.org/details/revisiting-the-pilgrims-progress-230703

 

[D2255]

As Christian people, we repent on daily basis. We're in the flesh, and its sinful.
1 John 3:2. Children of light are of God. We will sin the flesh, and we repent. We try not to sin.
3:6. These are habitual simners. They don't care about God and won't repent. These are Reprobates. They are children of disobedience/ darkness.

The distinction between Christian sinners and habitual simners. Just repent and do our best to obey Jesus. As long as we try. Peace.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

Agreed heartily with the above. There are, I'll suggest, two general ways to try to approach the Lord. One, is we can "dedicate ourselves to God". I'll suggest that this is, whether in certain words or not, a sworn vow or oath:

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’ 34 but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
Matthew 5:33-37

In that behavior, it is we who are swearing ourselves to God, and it is not God who is taking us to Him.

The other, is that He can dedicate us to Himself. He offers an alternative: the presence within us, of the Holy Spirit of God, of Himself, a separate person who can and will live within us if we are willing, who will drive us closer and closer to God Himself. Our motivation is no longer something of our primary responsibility, of our primary doing; our motivation becomes thoughts God Himself places into us.

 

[Beetow]

.
For nervex

One of Webster's definitions of dedicate is: to commit to a goal or way of life

Another of its definitions is: to set apart to a definite use.

Seeing as how you have not been saved, and plan to sin, I strongly advise against
dedicating your life to Christ because your commitment would be phony, viz: it
would be all show and no go, i.e. insincere.
_

 

[miamited]

Hi nervex
It won't matter whether you do or don't. If you do, and your heart isn't in it, you'll be cast into the pit. If you don't, you'll be cast into the pit. The only way that dedicating your life to follow after Jesus is if your heart is set to follow after Jesus. Your making some claim that it's what you want to do, but you don't do it,... well, Jesus spoke a parable about that. There were two sons. The father asked the one son to help him in the field but he refused. He asked the other son also and he agreed to go with his father, but he didn't. The first son changed his mind and did go help his father. Your commitment to say that you will but don't, would be like the second son. God bless.

 

[hishandmaiden]

You should most certainly accept Jesus into your life. You can't ever be sinless, you will sin, and will sin even after you accepted Jesus. But at least, with Jesus, you find forgiveness for your sins. Don't wait until you are perfect to receive Jesus. You will never be perfect. That is exactly why you need Jesus in your life.

 

[Elijah7777]

Should I start praying

GOD works in us to will and to desire to live right and please Him. We do not always want to be set free from sin. So that is a good place to begin.

 

[Elijah7777]

Should I start praying anyway and see if God can help me stop?

Yes, exactly. for it is "God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure". Phillippians 2:13

God gives us the desires of our hearts. So we need to purify our hearts before God to desire what is best for us.

Sin has it consequences. When the time comes to pay for our sin, then we wish we had not sinned. We are told we will reap what we sow.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

 

[Elijah7777]

It is impossible to completely stop sinning.

Sin is bondage. What sin can we not be set free from?

 

[Corinth77777]

Hi I'm a married male in my 50s. I know my question probably doesn't even make sense as dedicating one's life to Jesus means not sinning, or at least trying not to sin. For many years I have felt drawn to live my life for Jesus, but I have not been saved because I know for sure that I'm going to sin again - and my life is a mess. I know everybody sins at some time, even those who have been saved, but I plan to sin. At certain times, I tell myself that I should pray to God and let Him know that I'm planning to sin but that I will spend more time praying than I will sinning. It just doesn't feel right though. When I say sin, I mean things like refusing to forgive certain people and looking at members of the opposite sex in an ungodly way and flirting. Should I start praying anyway and see if God can help me stop? I'll feel like a hypocrite. Thank you in advance to anyone who wants to weigh in on this.

Hi.. thanks for sharing

First question is when you really want to do something and have got it done what did it take on your end to accomplish?

If you say you know that you are going to sin then aren't you saying that you are really not going to trust Him for everything. And by this aren't you looking at what you can or cannot do in your own ability. WE are to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. That means when something comes up in our mind that is not of God we need to cast it out not to dwell on it but to listen/ heed to what is right.

That is one way I am practicing how to not be overcome by sin. But another way...is to seek to do good. When you are going north then you are not going south. So practice doing good so that evil temptations are nowhere to be seen.

So you must have a plan of action.
And you must count the cost.

But before this spend time praying and listening to a chapter in the Bible daily


An acronym Is PRAY
Praise
Repent
Ask
Yield

There is physical food that helps us grow physically and nurishes our body to stay strong and healthy

Then the word is our spitual food which you need to eat daily
For spiriual growth. And you can make it!
With God all things are possible..but leaning to your own understanding and continually running your own life on your own has no gain. EITHER We will allow God to rule our lives ..or we will live in our own kingdom under our own rule.

In the end you must choose by counting the cost.

Don't forget faith comes by hearing the word.

My questions are have you been born from above?
Have you believed on Jesus with the intention for him to rule your life?

In the Titled of your question you have the answer. How can you dedicate yourself to Jesus if you choose to be dedicated in living your own way. You know the answer.

 

[Elijah7777]

at least trying not to sin.

God's Grace works in us so that we want to serve Him and do His will.

Philippians 2:13, it says, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose." This verse beautifully expresses the idea that God’s grace doesn’t just save us—it empowers us to live in obedience and service to Him.

Grace isn’t just about forgiveness; it’s also about transformation. As we grow in faith, His grace enables us to move beyond our own desires and pursue righteousness, love, and service.