Say your a Christian and trying to figure things out while still struggling with sin. Here are some practical first steps for you. This is how I would guide someone toward taking a step closer to Jesus:

For me, I would always start by focusing on the greatest commandment. If I were discipling someone, I'd begin with this: we need to structure our lives around it. I’d also parallel it with the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord's Prayer provides a framework for approaching prayer, even if we don’t follow it word-for-word. It helps us healthily work through things and aligns us with God's plan.

One key point is learning how to orient your life toward God correctly. The greatest commandment teaches us that: "The Lord your God is one. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." To tackle sin, we need to recognize which parts of us are affected and address them.

For example, if the struggle is in your mind—whether it's with gossip, anger, or any mental battles—you can turn to scripture. Google Bible verses related to your struggle (e.g., anger, gossip) and focus on the opposite truth. This practice, called “talking back,” was introduced by Evagrius Ponticus, who also identified what we now call the seven deadly sins. Essentially, you counter lies with God’s truth, just as Jesus did in the desert. When those negative thoughts come up, you quote scripture at them.

If your struggle is with bodily sin, try fasting. Fasting trains your body to deny its desires, strengthening you against temptation. Pair fasting with prayer, as is traditionally done, and it becomes even more powerful.

I gave a sermon on the theology of the whole person, so I won’t go through all the details here. If you're interested, you can find it linked in the description. The key idea is to recognize that you can't solve a problem until you identify its source. Addressing only the symptoms won’t lead to true healing.

For example, if you're struggling mentally, ask yourself where the issue originated. Maybe it traces back to a lie you believed years ago, but now that you’ve recognized the source, you can address it.

From a counseling perspective, you can only effectively treat something once you identify the root cause. Treating symptoms without understanding what’s driving them is like covering a broken bone with a band-aid. We need to check each part of the whole person— spirit, mind, body, and soul—and ask, “Where is this struggle coming from?” That’s how true healing begins.

Here is a link to that full teaching if you want to dive deeper into that:

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