As Christians, we understand that the battle against sin is a daily struggle. Our sinful nature constantly pulls us towards temptation, but Scripture provides us with powerful weapons to resist. One powerful but often overlooked weapon in our battle against sin and temptation is the practice of setting our minds on heaven. Below are some ways setting our minds on heaven helps us in our battle with sin.
Understanding that God is Greater
Even though we crave satisfaction in this world, meditating on heaven helps us remember that our satisfaction is in the future. The promise of dwelling in heaven with God and contemplating the joy and satisfaction we will experience there helps us to shun the false promises of satisfaction that sin offers. Thinking about the satisfaction we will experience in heaven can help us replace the desire to sin with a desire for God.
Providing Eternal Perspective in Daily Battles
Thinking about heaven reminds us of the “weight of glory” that awaits us (2 Corinthians 4:17). This eternal perspective helps us see our current temptations for what they truly are – momentary and ultimately unsatisfying. In contrast, the joy and fulfillment we will experience in God’s presence far outweigh any temporal gratification sin might offer.
Motivating us to Holiness
Contemplating heaven is an important and sobering reminder that one day we will stand before God and give an account of what we have done. This should motivate us to live increasingly pure and Holy lives before God, and to constantly look to Christ, who took our sins on himself. This isn’t about earning our salvation, but rather about living out our salvation light of our secure hope in Christ.
Giving Hope for Victory
Temptation to sin is a form of suffering. Often, we find ourselves worn down by the struggle and desire to give up and sin is great. Contemplating heaven helps us in two ways here. First, we are reminded that temptation itself is temporary. There is an eternity’s worth of glory coming where we will be perfectly holy, never to experience the desire to sin again. Secondly, when we do fail, we can get back up and keep fighting, knowing that Christ defeated sin so we could enter heaven.
As we face temptations today, let’s fix our eyes on our eternal home. The promise of heaven and the joy of being in God’s presence forever has the power to strengthen us to resist sin and live for His glory.
Chew On This:
What is one promise about heaven you can write down this week to remember when you are tempted?
