KILL YOUR RESOLUTIONS | KILL YOUR SIN
Here is a recap of Sunday’s message from Pastor Steve, “Kill Your Resolutions | Kill Your Sin”
Instead of adding more goals and spiritual tasks for 2026, Pastor challenged us to rethink the New Year by not adding to our lives, but removing what is slowing us down.
Using Hebrews 12:1, we heard the call to strip off every weight, especially the sin that trips us up, and to run with endurance. Pastor pressed into a hard truth, if you want to drift back into the world, you do not have to try, you just have to do nothing. Sin does not need to be managed, it must be killed, because whatever you refuse to kill will eventually kill your hunger for God, your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, your authority in prayer, your peace at home, and your witness to the world.
We confronted the reality of idolatry in modern life. Idolatry is not only carved statues, it is anything placed in a higher place of worship, value, or dependence than God. Pastor emphasized that God will not share His throne, and Exodus 20:2–6 reminds us that God is jealous for our affection and warns that idol worship carries generational consequences, while love and obedience bring blessing to a thousand generations. This came down to what we surround ourselves with. If you live in constant proximity to temptation, you are setting yourself up for failure, but if you put on the presence of God and learn His ways, obedience can begin to flow from your life.
Pastor then walked us through what “killing sin” looks like in real terms. Ephesians 4:22–32 gave a blunt inventory of what must be thrown off, lust and deception, lies, stealing, abusive and foul speech, bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander, and evil behavior, followed by the call to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving like Christ. Then we looked at how the Ephesian church was born in Acts 19:8–20, the gospel came with power, and repentance came with action. They confessed sinful practices and burned millions of dollars worth of occult books. No garage sale, no passing temptation on to someone else, a bonfire. Pastor said some things in our lives must be burned to the ground, cut off, destroyed, and removed.
Colossians 3:5–10 sharpened the command, “put to death” the sinful, earthly things within you, including sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, dirty language, and lying.
Pastor made it clear, prayer meetings, books, podcasts, and counseling can be good, but they do not replace obedience. We do not win by trying harder, we win by putting sin to death and making room for God to transform our minds, as Romans 12:2 teaches.
The message then landed in Joshua 24:14–15, choose today whom you will serve, and in 2 Chronicles 34:29–33, Josiah did not only call for covenant renewal, he removed the idols from the land. Pastor applied that boldly, especially to men and parents, remove the idols from your house, remove the temptation, and watch what happens to the people under your influence.
This is not condemnation, it is invitation. God is not trying to take joy, He is trying to set you free. And God never asks you to empty your life without filling it, when you kill sin and hand it to God, He fills that space with His Spirit and restores intimacy, clarity, freedom, and power.
Practical takeaways:
• Make reverse resolutions, remove what slows you down before you try to add new goals.
• Identify idols honestly, anything you value, trust, or depend on more than God is on the wrong throne.
• Stop negotiating with sin, Scripture says strip it off, put it away, destroy it, put it to death.
• Do not camp near temptation, remove access, remove opportunity, remove the idol from the house.
• Take obedience seriously, generational blessing is connected to love for God and obedience to His commands.
• Replace “I’ll deal with it later” with “choose today”, later becomes longer, longer becomes stronger, stronger becomes bondage.
• When you kill sin, pray, “God, I give this to You, fill me with Your Spirit”, God fills what you empty.
• Less of you means more of Him, more freedom, more peace, more spiritual authority, more joy.
Below are the verses that were read during the message.
Hebrews 12:1
Romans 12:2
Exodus 20:2-6
Ephesians 4:22-32
Acts 19:8-20
Colossians 3:5-10
Joshua 24:14-15
2 Chronicles 34:29-33