Overcoming sin patterns is an incredibly arduous task. It is primarily difficult because we are terrific analyzers of patterns in others, but remarkably inefficient when it comes to discovering sin patterns in our own. But we should be in the business of pattern detecting.
Say you have a tendency to overreact to situations in your life. A pickle jar falls to the floor and shatters into millions of pickle-flavored crystallized pieces of glass. You then look to the heavens and declare that Zeus and Apollos have betrayed you and perhaps even the God of Abraham was in on the conspiracy. Those around you look in amazement at just how much that pickle jar meant to you. After all, no one would weep and cuss if the pickle jar didn’t have sentimental value.
After you come to your senses, you realize that the pickle jar wasn’t really that valuable and that you wept in vain. You may even feel embarrassed by the scene you caused. What do you do now? You can begin by asking God to forgive you. And he does. He is slow to anger. But then what? Well, you must begin with an analysis of those patterns. If you need help you can even ask your friends or family if they see a pattern. If so, you may need to do an autopsy of the event examining the body of evidence left in those patterns in the last few days and weeks and determine why things cause you to overact so easily. Be so familiar with that particular sin pattern that you become highly self-aware of the need to avoid repeating that action and pattern the next time. Say to yourself: “Self, I need to kill this pattern before it kills me.” Keep thinking and examining that sin pattern until you become so tired of its affect that you learn to despise it.
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