7 Challenges Of Living A Holy Life [Many Believers Face]

There are many challenges of living a holy life the bible mentions that hinder many from being holy and living spotless lives that are free from sin.

Both you and I know how hard it is to be holy, especially in the present evil world we live in where sin seems to be everywhere to go and where living holy is seen as a taboo nowadays.

So, if you are wondering why we find it difficult to be holy compared to sinning, then the 7 challenges of living a holy life below will help you understand why it is so.

7 Reasons Why Holy Living Is Difficult.

The Love Of Sin.
Satan’s Temptations.
Lack Of True Conversion.
The World.
Spiritual Lukewarmness.
Desires Of The Flesh.
Our Sinful Nature.

1. The Love Of Sin.

One of the major challenges of living a holy life that’s above sin is the love of sin in many people’s hearts which makes them be in love with their sinful lifestyles and hate holiness (John 3:19-21).

If the love of sin is present in your life, you won’t be able to live a holy life as your old sinful nature is what’s controlling your life causing you to love sin and hate holiness.

This love of sin can be seen in many people’s lives today including many so-called Christians who justify their sin by giving excuses that we are all sinners which is true as a license to live in willful sin.

When you confront these fake Christians who are in love with their sin, they will tell you that no one can be holy and live a life that’s free from sin which isn’t true as the Lord Jesus Christ calls unto holiness, not uncleanness (1 Thessalonians 4:7).

The love of sin is the reason why sexual immorality, drunkenness, and all other deeds of the flesh Galatians 5:19-21 talks about are now commonplace in the society today especial among young people even in the church which is supposed to be holy and pure.

2. Satan’s Temptations.

The temptations of Satan are another major challenge that makes holy living impossible for most people. Just look around and you will see no shortage of Satan’s temptations everywhere you go enticing you to sin.

It seems everywhere you go, temptations are littered all over the place like ants, especially those of sexual immorality and moral perversion in this perverse wicked world we live in.

This is why Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 22:46 that we must pray so that we don’t enter and fall into Satan’s temptations which are everywhere. Many people including believers fall into silly temptations because their prayer lives leave much to be desired

You must understand that you can’t avoid Satan’s temptations as long as you live in this fallen wicked world that is controlled by him.

So, if you have been struggling to overcome various temptations in your life that have made you fall into sin over and over, you can pray for God’s grace to overcome them. If the Lord Jesus Christ overcame temptations while on earth, you too can do it as well with His grace.

3. Lack Of True Conversion.

Another reason why most people find holy living a challenge is that they haven’t experienced true conversion yet that brings about the new birth and new nature Ephesians 4:24 talks about that enables one to live a holy life.

Sadly, many people who claim to be Christians are false converts without any genuine conversion in their lives which explains why they keep going back to the same sins they repent of every Sunday.

You must understand that without genuine conversion in your life, you won’t be able to live a holy life as the old sinful nature is still active in your life that’s making you sin or go back to sin even if you repent every Sunday.

The old nature of sin you have that makes you fulfill the sinful desires of the flesh can only be removed if you become truly born again with the new nature of Christ in you which is preceded by genuine conversion.

You can’t be truly born again and become a new creation in Christ Jesus 2 Corinthians 5:17 talks about if you haven’t experienced true conversion in your life. So, if you are finding it hard to be holy, check your conversion if it’s genuine or not, and pray for true conversion if needed.

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4. The World.

The world and the love of this world along with the things that are in it that 1 John 2:15-17 discourages every true believer to do is another major challenge that many faces when it comes to living a life of holiness.

If you love the world too much, you will find it impossible to maintain a Christian life of holiness and righteousness as you will be defiled by the world and its sinful culture.

Remember, you can’t serve two masters as you will either love one or despise the other as Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 16:13 in the new testament. You can’t love the world and be holy at the same time because this world is evil and hates holiness.

If you love the world, you will desire to be like the world and live the way people of the world live, which is contrary to God’s word and explains why worldliness is prevalent among many so-called Christians who haven’t separated themselves from the world yet.

This is why the Lord tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:17 that we must come out from among them referring to the world and the people of the world and be separate from them as the Lord calls us to holiness and not the uncleanness which is found in the world.

5. Spiritual Lukewarmness.

Another major challenge that makes holy living difficult among many believers is spiritual lukewarmness, a state where one is neither hot nor cold for the Lord.

A believer whose lukewarm in their Christian faith will find living a holy life a challenge as they are undecided as to whether they want to live fully for God in righteousness or the world in sin.

Lukewarmness isn’t just a problem that only happens to 21st-century believers. Revelations 3:16-22 tells us Christians in Laodicea faced this problem of spiritual lukewarmness as well due to the loss of the first love the once hard for the Lord.

Inevitably, if your take your spiritual lukewarmness too far, it’s just a matter of time before you backslide and fall into sin completely as you can’t be on the fence forever. You are either of the Lord or not, holy or unholy. No middle ground whatever.

So, if your faith has become lukewarm, you need to repent of your lukewarmness if you don’t want the Lord to eventually spew you out of His mouth due to your indecision to choose to live a holy life that’s pleasing to Him in this current perverse generation.

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6. Desires Of The Flesh.

The sinful desires of our sinful flesh wreaking havoc on many people struggling with sin is another challenge of living a holy life that many people including Christians face today.

We are told in Galatians 5:17 that the flesh is the enemy of the Spirit and that these two are constantly at war with each other. Since our sinful flesh always wants us to do sinful things, living a life of holiness becomes a challenge as it deprives the flesh of the sin it loves so dearly.

It’s no wonder why we find it easy to sin naturally than to be holy as holiness is not a natural trait we are born with due to the fall of our first parents which is why we are all born in sin.

You must understand that your sinful flesh will always naturally want you to fulfill its sinful desires which is why the flesh hates holiness because it deprives the flesh of fulfilling the sinful desires it thrives on.

Therefore, if you are to live a holy life, you need to be truly born again so that the new nature of Christ is imparted to you that will help you overcome the flesh so that you no longer fulfill its lustful desires that cause you to sin in the first place.

7. Our Sinful Nature.

Last but not least, our sinful nature is by far the biggest challenge as to why we naturally find it hard to live a holy life that’s free from sin.

Romans 5:19 tells us that we are all born in sin and that we are all sinners due to the disobedience of our first parents. We sin because it’s who we are by birth as sin is in our DNA.

Due to the sinful nature that resides in our hearts, it’s just natural for us to love to sin rather than to live a life of holiness and righteousness that deprives our sinful nature of the sin it loves and lives on.

All the manner of evil you see in this world be it murder, telling lies, sexual immorality, drunkenness, etc. are all because of our inherent sinful nature we are all born with that hunger for sin always (Psalms 51:5).

Only when this sinful nature is gotten rid of and replaced with the new nature of Christ at salvation by the Holy Spirit when a true conversion occurs will living a holy life becomes possible.

Conclusion.

I hope the above 7 challenges of living a holy life have now made you understand why we naturally find it difficult to be holy but find it easy to sin instead.

If you are struggling to overcome sin hindering you from living a holy life, all you need is to ask the Lord to give you a new nature by giving your life to Him in true repentance.

In closing, if this post was helpful to you, let me know in the comments below along with any questions you might have on what you’ve read today. Godspeed and don’t forget to share.

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