3 Ways to Break the Cycle
An abstract of TBC Lead Pastor Connor Kraus’ sermon on January 4, 2026, in the Book of Judges series. Watch the sermon video here.
Seven years ago, we moved into a flipped house. Everything looked great from the outside. The inspection passed. But after living there a few months, we started noticing places where the renovation didn't quite finish the job. Behind the toilet? Just a square of paint—they didn't bother moving it. Wherever it became difficult or inconvenient, they stopped short.
We painted around the obstacles. We left the hard stuff for "later." Sound familiar?
The nation of Israel would understand this perfectly. In the Book of Judges, they're dealing with the consequences of not finishing the job God gave them. From the outside, things look fine. Look a little deeper, and things still seem okay. But cracks are forming. God's call on their life is being compromised. Evil is being tolerated. And Israel is beginning a slow walk away from the Lord.
The Setup: 90% Done, 10% to Go
To understand the Book of Judges, you need to know where Israel came from. God rescued them from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. He made a covenant with them at Mount Sinai—a relationship with terms, conditions, blessings, and consequences. He promised to bring them to the Promised Land, the ancestral home of Abraham.
But Israel was unfaithful. Instead of entering the land right away, they wandered in the desert for 40 years because they didn't trust God completely.
Finally, under Joshua's leadership, they crossed into the Promised Land. They broke the backbone of the Canaanite resistance. They conquered the major strongholds. As Joshua was dying, he basically said: "We've done the lion's share—90% of the work. Now you'll divide into your 12 tribes, go to your territories, and finish the last 10%. Drive out the remaining small groups. Do the hard work. And then you'll experience the rest and peace God promised you."
It was the last 10%. The easy part. The cleanup.
They didn't do it.
What Compromise Looks Like
In Judges chapter 1, we see Israel's incomplete obedience play out tribe by tribe.
God told Judah to go fight. Judah asked his brother Simeon to come help (not exactly what God said, but okay). They had some victories, but then: "The Lord was with Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country. But they could not drive out the people who were living in the plain because those people had iron chariots."
Wait. The Lord was with them, but they couldn't drive them out? These two sentences don't usually go together. Here's the problem: Israel had already beaten iron chariots before. This wasn't a new obstacle. But somehow, they got scared. They didn't trust God to provide victory.
The tribe of Benjamin? "The Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites have lived among the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to this day."
They became neighbors with their enemies. They said, "We could probably take you out anytime. But we're tired. We don't want to lose any men. Let's just... coexist."
One by one, the tribes stopped short. They controlled the land, but God didn't give them rest. They coexisted with enemies who hated them and worshiped false gods. And worst of all, they allowed idolatry to remain in the land.
Remember: these weren't just "other religions." Behind every false god—Baal, Asherah, Chemosh—were demons. Real spiritual forces wearing the mask of stone and wood idols. God warned Israel: "You'll start following their gods." And Israel said, "We've got this. We can handle being close to them without being influenced."
They couldn't.
Three Voices of Warning
In Judges chapter 2, three voices speak into Israel's situation:
The Angel of the Lord showed up and said: "You've broken God's covenant. You didn't obey. These people you left behind? They'll be thorns in your sides. Their gods will be a trap for you."
Israel's response? They wept. They named the place "Weeping." They offered sacrifices. They said, "We'll never do this again! Ever! We promise!"
The narrator then gives us the painful truth: "The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight. They worshiped the Baals and abandoned the Lord... They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them."
This God who rescued them from Egypt, who parted seas, who provided daily manna, who gave them victory after victory—they abandoned Him for their neighbors' gods. And it happened in the span of one generation.
God Himself spoke: "Because this nation has violated my covenant, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I did this to test Israel and to see whether or not they would keep the Lord's way."
God was watching. Israel was being tested. Would they do the hard thing? Would they follow through? Or would they compromise and tolerate evil?
They failed the test.
The Downward Spiral
Because Israel stopped short of obedience, they suffered for the next 400 years. Those small groups they left behind? They grew stronger, filled with hatred, and attacked Israel. The people God could have helped them remove became the source of their oppression.
But here's where grace enters: God never stopped loving His people. Throughout Judges, whenever Israel cried out to Him, God raised up judges—leaders who rescued them from their enemies. Each judge was like a love letter, an opportunity for Israel to turn back to God.
But "they did not listen to their judges. Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their ancestors."
They were caught in a cycle: sin, suffering, crying out to God, rescue, brief faithfulness, then back to sin—each time worse than before. They were spiraling downward, eating themselves from the inside out.
And it all started with tolerating those "tiny little strongholds."
Three Ways to Avoid Israel's Mistakes
So how do we avoid this pattern in our own lives?
1. Tear Down the Strongholds You've Normalized
Where have you stopped short of obedience? What have you learned to live with that God has warned you about?
Partial obedience creates space for compromise to take root.
We think foolishly that there are places in our lives we can just set aside. "That's too big. That's too hard. I'll handle it later. Look at the rest of my life—it's mostly good!"
But sin never stays small. It festers. It grows. The nation of Israel is screaming at us: "Yes, everything else looks great, but THIS is the part that's going to cause the problem."
Go before God's Holy Spirit and ask: "Lord, reveal to me the areas of my life where I've fallen short. What are the strongholds that seem small right now? What sins am I allowing to persist, thinking I'll deal with them later?"
2. Don't Confuse Emotion with Repentance
Israel wept at Bokim. They were passionate. They were intense. They said, "This will NEVER happen again!" They offered sacrifices. They named the place after their sorrow.
And then they went right back to what they were doing before.
Intensity doesn't equal change. Feeling bad about your sin doesn't mean you've actually repented.
Real repentance means:
Naming it clearly
Confessing it honestly
Taking one concrete step so it doesn't happen again
Your strategy can't just be "I'll try harder next time." You need a plan. When was the last time conviction actually led to real change in your behavior?
3. Respond Now Before the Cycle Deepens
If you think fighting your sin now is hard, wait a year. Wait three years. Wait ten years. The problem won't stay the same size.
Yes, God's power is sufficient to conquer any problem in your life, no matter how long you've been struggling. But don't fool yourself into thinking the battle will be easier later.
What will it cost you if nothing changes?
Your faith? Your relationships? Your testimony? The Book of Judges gives us a 400-year answer to that question, and it's not pretty.
The Hope That Changes Everything
All of this can feel heavy. Looking at the ugly parts of our lives where we've compromised and tolerated sin—it's hard. Especially if you're actively trying to fight something right now.
But here's the promise: God has never left your side. No matter how deep you are into whatever you're into, there's always a U-turn available. There's always a space where you can begin to follow the Lord. And when you turn to Him, He will meet you right there.
First Corinthians 10:13 tells us: "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear."
Any situation in your life right now can be overcome by the power of Christ. Any sin, any addiction, any stronghold—it can be conquered. But it's going to take more than just saying, "I'm serious this time."
What does that actually mean? What does it look like? And how do you rely not on your flickering flame of willpower, but on the sure promises of God?
The answer is found at the cross. When Jesus died, He conquered sin, death, and the punishment for sin. For you and me, if we trust in Him as our Savior, He showed that He is the one who will conquer sin in our lives.
That doesn't mean your life will be perfect right away. It doesn't mean all the strongholds disappear immediately. But it does mean you no longer have to worry about the iron chariots, because God is with you in every single battle.
Your Next Step
Maybe you're reading this and realizing you've been living with compromise. You've painted around the obstacles. You've tolerated small sins, thinking they'd stay small. You've stopped short of obedience.
Or maybe you've never truly trusted in Jesus as your Savior—the One who gives you power to actually overcome sin instead of just managing it.
We'd love to talk with you about what it means to tear down strongholds, to truly repent, and to experience the freedom that comes from following God completely. Join us this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 a.m. and discover what happens when you stop painting around the obstacles and start finishing the job.