How To Have Victory Over The Flesh [In 12 Simple Steps.]

Today in this post, you will discover how to have victory over the flesh once and for all in 12 simple actionable steps listed below.

May people including believers struggle to overcome their flesh which is wreaking havoc in their Christian life and making it difficult to let go of certain sinful habits or addictions in their life.

And if you are such a person reading this who is struggling to overcome the flesh, don’t lose heart as this post will show you how to overcome that flesh in the 12 simple steps listed below.

12 Things To Do To Overcome The Flesh.

Below are the 12 actionable steps you must take if you want to overcome the flesh and its sinful lusts and desires which just bring spiritual death and damnation in hellfire.

Crucify Your Old Self.
Be Born Again.
Diligently Guard Your Heart.
Pray.
Read God’s Word Daily.
Be Sanctified.
Ask For Grace.
Be Spirit-Led.
Have A New Heart.
Flee Youthful Lusts.
Have A Renewed Mind.
Abstain From All Evil Appearances.

1. Crucify Your Old Self.

Crucifying your old self is one of the best things you can do in your Christian life to overcome your sinful flesh and its sinful desires.

You can’t overcome the flesh if your old self hasn’t been crucified in Christ on the cross which will have dominion over you.

No wonder Paul said in Romans 6:6 that our old self must be crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ so that the body and nature of sin can be destroyed and replaced with the nature of Christ Jesus that will enable you to overcome the flesh.

Without crucifying your old self of sin by giving yourself entirely to Jesus Christ, forget about overcoming your sinful flesh. The reason why most people can’t overcome the flesh is because they have not fully surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ.

2. Be Born Again.

Getting born again is the most important step you need to take to overcome the flesh because if you are not born again, you won’t be able to be victorious over your sinful flesh.

The reason why you must be born again to overcome the flesh is that being born again gives you a new birth experience which results in the new nature of Jesus Christ in you Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:24.

And it’s this new nature that comes after being genuinely born gain that will make you victorious over your sinful flesh with its evil desires.

We are all born with the sinful nature we inherited from our first parents who sinned which is why we can’t overcome the evil desires of the flesh in our strength and this is where getting born again comes in as it brings about the new nature which overcomes the flesh.

Related:

3. Diligently Guard Your Heart.

Guarding your heart with all diligence is crucial in overcoming the flesh because it’s in the heart where all issues of life come from (Proverbs 4:23).

Guarding your heart simply means leading and guarding your hearts desires with the help of God’s word so that it doesn’t lead you to sin.

If you don’t guard your heart, your heart will lead you astray because according to Jeremiah 17:9 the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

It’s from the heart all manner of evil desires of the flesh come from which is why you must not blindly follow your heart as it can deceive you. Instead, learn to lead and guard your heart with God’s word so that it has pure desires.

4. Pray.

If you desire to overcome the flesh, prayer must be your staple food in your daily Christian life as overcoming the flesh is a spiritual battle you can’t overcome in your fleshly strength.

Many Christian today struggle to overcome the desires of their sinful flesh because they lack prayer and are too lazy even to spend 10-30-minute quality time to pray but can spend countless hours on social media seeing seminude pictures.

Remember, Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but principalities and spiritual forces of wickedness in high places in the pulling down of strongholds.

Therefore, the flesh is indeed a formidable stronghold that can only be overcome with prayer and the reason why most people struggle with sin and overcoming the flesh is that prayer is missing their lives making such people under armed overcome the spiritual battle of the flesh.

5. Read God’s Word Daily.

Reading God’s word daily especially early in the morning will go a long way in helping you overcome the sinful temptation that the flesh may introduce to you during the day.

Sadly, most people including Christian are too lazy to read their bibles every day and wonder why they can’t overcome the sinful desires of their flesh which is causing them to fall into sin.

You can only overcome the flesh if you have God’s word in your heart and now wonder the Psalmist David said in Psalms 119:11-16 that he has hidden God’s word in his heart so that he might not sin against God.

The above verse is what will enable you to have victory over the flesh if you implement it in your Christian life which will help you bring the flesh under the subjection of God’s word so that you don’t obey its sinful desires.

6. Be Sanctified.

According to Mariam Webster Dictionary, sanctification simply means to be set apart for a sacred purpose and to be set free from sin.

Sanctification is very crucial in the life of a believer as it’s what removes the Adamic nature of sin that we are all born with that causes us to sin which is part of our human nature.

Without sanctification, you will have a hard time in overcoming the flesh which is why Paul in 2 Timothy 2:21 say that if any man purges himself, he will be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and feet for the Master’s use prepared for ever good work.

The other verse that takes about sanctification is Leviticus 20:7 whist tells us to sanctify ourselves as He who has called us is holy. From that verse, we can see that sanctification is a two-way process in which you do your part and God does His.

7. Ask For Grace.

In Titus 2 verse 11, we are told that God’s grace made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ that brings salvation has appeared to everyone.

It’s this grace that you desperately need in your life that will help you deny all forms of ungodliness and worldly lusts so that you can live godly and soberly in this present evil world.

Without this grace in your life, you won’t overcome the sinful desires of your flesh which are always around the corner lying in wait to lead you into sin when the opportunity to do so presents itself.

Therefore if you are struggling with sin in your life all you need is to ask for this grace by faith Titus 2:11 talks about to help you have victory over the flesh once and for all.

8. Be Spirit-Led.

To be spirit-led, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit that will help you to walks after the spirit and not the flesh Galatians 5:16 talks about.

It’s only when you are led and filled with the Holy Spirit that renews you from within will you be able to overcome the evil desires of your flesh that reign in your mortal body.

If you are not led by the Holy Spirit, your sinful flesh is what you will be led with which will just lead you to do things that are sinful in God’s sight and not what the Spirit desires.

The works of the flesh found in Galatians 5:19-21 are what will manifest in your life if the Holy Spirit is absent in your life to help you bear the fruit of the Spirit that Galatians 5:22,23 which happen when you have victory over the flesh.

9. Have A New Heart.

In Ezekiel 36:26, the Lord promises us that He will give us a new heart and a new spirit that will make us love Him and live the way He wants us to.

And it’s the new heart of flesh with new desires that are in line with God’s word that will help you defeat your sinful flesh which comes with the stony sinful heart you were conceived with at birth.

Naturally, our hearts are evil and sinful which is why we have evil desires that make us do evil things because it’s out of the heart all manner of evil comes from as Jesus Christ said in Matthews 15:19-21.

This is why you need a new heart with new desires that comes after genuine salvation and it’s this pure heart that will make you victorious over the flesh and make you see God at last when you leave this wicked world (Matthews 5:8).

10. Flee Youthful Lusts.

If you want to have victory over the flesh, fleeing youthful lust is a must in your Christian life which sadly most so-called Christians don’t do.

Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:22 that we must flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness. By definition, youthful lusts are things such as fornication, lust for money, lust for power or popularity that lead to sin.

And one of the most common youthful lusts you need to flee is fornication which is sex before marriage which is now commonplace among many young people today who are filled with lust in their unregenerated sinful hearts.

Remember, Joseph in Genesis 39:12 fled when Potiphar’s wife wanted to lie with him and in like manner you also need to do the same when the temptation of such nature comes to you because as times, you need to physical flee and run for your life to overcome the flesh.

11. Have A Renewed Mind.

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that we must not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind in Christ Jesus.

Having a renewed mind of Jesus Christ in you is one of the greatest weapons you can ever have in your Christian arsenal in overcoming the lust of the flesh and any as the mind is where the spiritual battlefield is.

If you have a renewed mind, you will find it easier to fend off evil thoughts and temptations of the flesh Satan may try to inject into your mind to make you sin. Remember any sin committed begins in the mind and begins as a simple thought.

And if your mind isn’t renewed, you will struggle with all manner of evil thoughts such as sexual immorality, murder, hate and so on that will eventually lead you to sin. So if you struggle with evil thoughts, ask the Lord Jesus Christ to renew your mind so that it can conform to His.

12. Abstain From All Evil Appearances.

Last but not least, you must abstain from any known appearances of evil in your life which is the desire of God so that He can sanctify us (1 Thessalonians 5:22-24).

The reason why most Christians can’t overcome their sinful flesh is that they don’t have the desire to abstain from the evil appearances in their lives that are defiling them due to the lust that’s still in them which make them desire to see evil things.

In this wicked generation we live in, evil appearances are everywhere littered all over the place like ants. Talk about evil T.V shows and internet pornography which is now rampant these days which many people even some Christians are addicted to.

It seems that these days, a day can’t go by without seeing a scantily seductively dressed lady be it in advertisements, T.V shows and on social media which is why you need to be disciplined as a Christian to abstain from all these evil appearances.

Final Thoughts.

I hope the above 12 steps on how to have victory over the flesh will now help you overcome the flesh causing you to lust after sin once and for all. In closing, if you found this post useful, kindly let me know in the comments below along with any questions you might have on what you have read. Stay blessed and don’t forget to share.

Read Also.

Sharing is caring.

4 thoughts on “How To Have Victory Over The Flesh [In 12 Simple Steps.]”

DAVIDS kargbo

November 15, 2022 at 5:21 pm

Thank you so much, sir, am so blessed. may God continue to increase you and comfort you on every side of your life, in Jesus name.
- Samuel
  
  November 16, 2022 at 12:28 am
  
  I am glad that this post was a blessing to you. God bless you as well.
Jim

October 9, 2023 at 6:51 pm

Thank you your words have helped lots in overcoming the flesh
- Samuel
  
  October 10, 2023 at 5:52 pm
  
  You are most welcome and God bless.