Our God is truly amazing. A Christian friend of mine is struggling with a particular sin, one they may never openly admit. They were praying about it, and in His mercy, God brought it to my attention through a dream and moved me to prepare a message of deliverance for them. What a wonderful God we serve.
Recently, I had three separate conversations with three different individuals, and though their words were different, the root of what they were dealing with was the same. The first, with tears in his eyes, said, “I can’t stop.” The second did not name the issue directly but justified it by saying, “It makes me feel better.” The third responded in another way; each time they felt they had done wrong, they came down hard on themselves and said, “I should have known better.”
At first glance, these responses seem different. One feels powerless, another feels justified, and the third feels condemned. But when you look more closely, they are all dealing with the same thing — a pattern they do not fully understand. Until that pattern is understood, freedom will remain difficult to grasp.
Vice
A vice is not simply something a person does. A vice is a repeated pattern of behavior that begins within and gradually moves a person away from what is right. It is not defined by a single act but by returning to that act until it becomes a pattern. What becomes a pattern begins to shape a person’s life.
This is why a vice must be understood as more than outward behavior. It begins inwardly. Before anything is ever seen on the outside, a thought has entered, a desire has been entertained, and an agreement has been made within. What eventually appears outwardly is only the visible result of what was first allowed to take root inside.
The process itself is simple, though often overlooked. A thought comes, it is accepted rather than rejected, it becomes action, and when that action is repeated, it becomes a pattern. That pattern is what we call a vice. In that sense, a vice is not the beginning of the problem — it is the result of something that was allowed to grow unchecked within. The behavior is not the root; it is the fruit.
This matter is not only natural; it is also spiritual. The enemy of the soul does not usually begin by openly destroying a person’s life. He begins with suggestion. These suggestions do not appear harmful at first. In fact, they often seem comforting, reasonable, or even helpful. They may sound like, “This will help you cope,” “You deserve this,” or “This is not that serious.”
In that moment, it can feel as though something is strengthening you in your mind. But what is being built is not grounded in truth. This must be clearly understood:
“A measure of truth is not the whole truth, and when taken out of context, it can be used to support a lie.”
That is how deception works. It feels right because part of it is right, but what is missing is what makes it dangerous.
Over time, these thoughts begin to shift a person’s foundation. Instead of standing on truth, a person begins to stand on feelings, self-justification, and incomplete truth. What is built on that kind of foundation cannot stand.
This is where it is important to understand the difference between how God works and how the enemy works. God does not force Himself on a person. He invites, leads, and works with the will. What He builds is grounded in truth and has substance. The enemy works differently. He suggests, gains agreement, and through repetition, what was once merely entertained begins to gain influence and control. What begins as a thought becomes a pattern, and what becomes a pattern begins to feel stronger than the person who allowed it.
There is also another side of this that must be understood. I knew someone who struggled with immoral thoughts. They tried to stop but could not. Along with those thoughts came a strong sense of guilt and shame. Because of that guilt and shame, the struggle was hidden. They fought it privately and carried it silently.
But what is hidden is not removed.
The cycle continued: the thought came, it was entertained, shame followed, it was hidden, and then it came again. This is why guilt and shame, when not properly understood, can keep a person in bondage. Instead of leading to freedom, they drive the issue deeper into secrecy. A vice grows in darkness, but it loses strength in the light.
When all of this is brought together, the picture becomes clear. A vice begins within, grows through agreement, is strengthened by repetition, is supported by partial truth, is hidden by shame, and becomes a pattern that feels unbreakable. That is why one person says, “I can’t stop,” another says, “It makes me feel better,” and another says, “I should have known better.” Different responses, but the same root.
Before a person can be free from the vice, they must first be free from condemnation. Condemnation says, “This is who you are,” while conviction says, “This is what is wrong.” One attacks the person; the other addresses the issue.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 8:1
This does not mean that nothing is wrong; it means the person is not rejected because of the struggle. God does not reject the person because of the sin. He loves the person, but He does not accept what is wrong within them.
A vice says, “You keep doing this,” but condemnation says, “This is who you are.” Once a person begins to believe that, freedom begins to feel impossible. So deliverance begins by separating what a person has done from who they are. The struggle may be real, and the pattern may be real, but it is not the person’s identity.
Once condemnation is broken, the root of the vice can be addressed. The first step is to bring it into the light. What is brought into the light begins to lose power. The next step is to identify the root by asking, “What have I believed?” and “What did I agree with?” A person cannot remove what they do not understand and see.
Then agreement with the lie must be broken. It is not enough to hate the outcome while continuing to agree with the thought that produced it.
After the lie is rejected, it must be replaced with truth. This is why the daily reading of God’s Word is essential. The truth that replaces the lie is not something a person creates; it is found in the Word of God. Through daily reading, the mind is corrected, false thinking is exposed, and truth is planted in the heart.
If lies helped form the vice, then truth must help uproot it.
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
— John 8:32
Freedom does not come from hearing truth once, but from returning to it daily. What was built through repeated lies must be torn down and replaced through repeated truth.
From there, the foundation must be rebuilt. A person must learn to stand not on what they feel or what seems reasonable, but on what God has said. And just as the vice was formed through repetition, freedom is strengthened through repetition as well. Through daily truth, daily surrender, daily renewal of the mind, and daily walking in the light, a new pattern is formed.
So the final truth is this: a person is not set free by trying harder, but by seeing clearly, rejecting the lie, filling their life with the truth of God’s Word, and standing on that truth daily.
Remember
What was formed through agreement can be broken through truth.
What was hidden can be healed in the light. What was built on a lie can be rebuilt on truth.
And what once controlled a person does not define them.
So the question is not simply, “What am I doing?” The real question is, “What have I allowed to take root within me?”
And the answer to that question will determine everything.
If there is something hidden, bring it into the light. If there is something believed that is not true, let it go. If there is a pattern that has taken hold, understand that it did not begin outwardly, and it will not be removed outwardly.
God is not standing against you. He is calling you into truth.
And the moment you stop hiding, the moment you stop condemning yourself,
the moment you stop agreeing with what is not true, is the moment you begin to walk in freedom.
“The devil is a liar, and the father of it.”
— John 8:44
So if the devil works through lies, then freedom must come through truth. You do not overcome a lie by accepting it, hiding it, or condemning yourself because of it. You overcome it by rejecting it and standing on what God says.
That is where freedom begins.
Amen
