At times we feel compelled to sin. We have impulses toward sin that are  seemingly uncontrollable. We may feel an urge to overspend, to overeat, to  indulge in pornography, or to gossip, and feel we have no power but to give in.  Even the apostle Paul struggled with impulse control: “For I do not understand  my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15).  So how are we  to manage our sinful impulses?

First, we must steep ourselves in the  truth. We are no longer bound to the sinful nature (Romans  6:17-18). In Christ we have been made new (2  Corinthians 5:17). We are declared righteous (2  Corinthians 5:21). When we know the truth, we can experience freedom (John 8:32). If we believe that  we are who God declares us to be, we can more easily act accordingly. When we  recognize a sinful impulse, we can declare it to be from the sinful nature and  therefore no longer a part of us.

Not only do we need to know the truth  about our identities in Christ, we need to take practical steps to live out that  truth. This will largely occur through the process of sanctification.  We cooperate with God’s perfecting work in us (Philippians  1:6) by obeying His commands. This means that we focus our minds on things  that are pleasing to Him (Philippians  4:8). We cast our anxieties on Him (Psalm 55:22;  1 Peter  5:7). Often, acting on an impulse is an attempt to manage anxiety. When we  take our burdens to the Lord, we experience more peace and therefore have less  need to manage our anxiety with sinful stopgaps.

We can also use our  minds and ask for God’s wisdom in determining what may be the cause of our  sinful impulses. Controlling impulses may mean modifying our lifestyles to  remove ourselves from tempting situations, discovering an unmet need that an  impulse is attempting to fill, or relying on friends to help hold us  accountable. In all of this, we should not forget that God has given us the  power of the Holy Spirit. We are not alone in our battle against our sinful  impulses. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power,  of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy  1:7).

Finally, we can remind ourselves of the reason we want to  gain control over sinful impulses. Hebrews  12:11 says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than  pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who  have been trained by it.” At first, controlling sinful impulses may not be  pleasant. However, we know that our self-discipline will eventually produce good  fruit. The end reward is worth the momentary pain of delayed gratification.