I once heard a pastor say that sin is emotional. He did not mean that emotions are sin; after all, God Himself has emotions, and He created us to feel.
What the pastor meant was that certain emotions can lead us to sin if the thoughts behind them are not taken captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. You do this through the power of God’s Word.
Emotions that can lead to sin include lust, greed, anger, depression, loneliness, envy, jealousy or any number of emotions.
That is why you need to slow down instead of running to that familiar behavior when you are tempted to sin. There is a reason why we tell children in school: “No running in the halls!” We know they are liable to trip and hurt themselves.
In a similar way, the enemy wants you to stay busy (running) so that you don’t have quiet times to rest in the Lord or think about what you are doing. In that way, you can keep sinning out of impulse.
He wants to convince you that you can’t handle it if you don’t keep running to that sin. And when you do run to it, he is waiting to condemn you with guilt and shame afterward. They don’t call it a “vicious circle” for nothing! A sin cycle is a vicious circle created by a vicious master, Satan.
