A person who continues in his sinful lifestyle is a sinner. Then he one day heard the word of God. His conscience was pricked. He hated his lifestyle. He felt sorry for himself. He was remorseful. He prayed for forgiveness of his sins.

He chose to forsake his sinful lifestyle. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He chose righteousness as his lifestyle. He became born again. He became a new creature.
Then along the way, he found himself back living the lifestyle he had forsaken!

Backsliding is an act of going back to your sinful way of doing things.

8 Shocking And Hidden Signs That You Are Backsliding

1. When you suddenly realized that you have lost your Joy of Salvation.

The way you used to bubble with joy is no longer there. It is a sign that you are backsliding.

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even they God, hath anointed there with oil if gladness above thy fellows. – Hebrews 1:9

If you go back to sins you have forsaken, you would lose the joy of your salvation, and sorrow will come.
Do you still radiate the same joy you once felt when you got born again?

Righteousness and joy are linked, they are interrelated. The moment sin comes into your life, joy leaves and sorrow takes its place. If you notice the absence of joy in your life, you need to check your salvation.

2. When you notice that you do not have peace again in your life.

The moment you give your life to Jesus Christ, you begin to experience the peace of God. Do you still experience the peace of God that passes all understanding?

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:7

Even though the sea is roaring and the storm is raging and the people around you are trembling, you will experience the peace of God, as long as you are connected to the Prince of Peace.

The moment you begin to backslide, this divine peace leaves, been though when things around you look all right.

3. When you discovered that your mind is constantly filled with immoral thoughts and sinful thoughts.

When King David discovered that his mind was now filled with immoral thoughts, he said in Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

When you begin to harbor immoral thoughts or you suddenly become comfortable in revealing clothes, it is a sign that your heart is far from God.

4. When you are no longer intimate with God.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; purify your hearts, ye double-minded. – James 4:8

When you are no longer intimate with God, he will move away from you because God can not behold sin. Holy Spirit can not stay with someone who is frolicking with sin.

Are any signs of backsliding evident in your life? Address them today.

5. You are already backsliding when you discovered that you are finding it difficult to pray.

Prayer means talking to God or having a conversation with God.

When your lifestyle has come to the point that you are no longer interested in having conversations with God, you are backsliding.

Eli heard that God was going to cut off lineage, all he had to say was “He is God, let Him do whatever He pleases”.

And Samuel told him, every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, it is the LORD; let him do what seemeth him good. – 1 Samuel 3:18

Eli would have gone on his knees and cried to God for mercy. This is a sign that Eli hardly prays anymore.
When someone who used to hear from God no longer hears from Him, that may be a sign that he has started backsliding.

Do you get bored after praying for five minutes? Then something is wrong.

6. When you discovered that spending one hour to fellowship with God now become a burden, you have started backsliding.

When we love someone, we enjoy spending quality time with that person. How much quality time are you spending with God?

How fervent is your prayer life? How eager are you to fellowship with God? Your answer would tell if you have started drifting away from God.

7. When you discovered that you are reluctant to win souls, you already backsliding.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted into thee. – Psalm 51:13

The Bible passage quoted above was David’s prayer after he backslid.

8. When praising God becomes casual to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. – Psalm 51:14-15

David said in the passage above that if God restore him, he would praise Him. When you had fallen into sin, even singing became a problem.

When was the last time you praise God from the depth of your heart? When was the last time you won a soul for God?

Why Do People Backslide?

Though the conscience of such people was awakened and pricked, their minds had not changed. As soon as they heard the words of God, they felt guilty, and there and then, they decided to restitute their ways.

But when the power of guilty wore off, and the thing which provoked them to repentance ceased; they naturally turned back to their sinful ways of doing things.

4 Amazing Insights into Backsliding You Need To Know

• Like a dog Who Return To Its Vomit:

The dog is sick of what it has eaten. It vomits and casts it all up. The dog does not cast it all up willingly, but because the food troubles its stomach.

When its sickness is over and its stomach is eased, because its desire is not at all separated from its vomit, it turns itself about and licks its vomit all up!

• Like A Felon Who Stands Before The Judge:

The felon shakes and trembles and seems to repent very assuringly. Yet, he is not shaken nor remorseful for the crime. He is shaking because of his fear of the hangman’s rope.

If this man is set free, he will still be a thief and a rascal. The felon will still go back to his old lifestyle because his mind has not changed.

• Like A Stubborn He-goat:

The he-goat once beaten, runs away fearfully from the scene of the offense. It runs away not because it feels bad for having caused so much trouble! It just wants to escape the angry man’s rod.

As soon as the angry man is no more looking, the he-goat shakes its two ears and finds its way back to where it has been beaten. The he-goat keeps going back because its mind has not changed about the angry man’s food.

• Like A Seed On The Rock:

The sower scatters the seeds, some fall on the rock. They grow up, but the plants wither because they have no roots. The seed is the word of God, and the rock is the condition of the hearers’ hearts.

The hearers receive the words with joy but the words do not have root in their stony hearts. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

In Conclusion

Sins can be very sweet and pleasant to sinners’ sinful nature, and they are unwilling to leave it. Once in a while, they look back over their shoulders. Their mind is not made up yet.

To keep a dog from going back to its vomit, it has to be made new in the attitude of its mind and therefore sees its vomit as something that does not worth going back to!

To keep you from going back to sin, you need to be renewed in your mind.

When you are no longer reading your Bible; you have stopped praying and witnessing, you have reduced your attendance of fellowship, you are drawing far away from God.

Are there other signs or hints that a Christian might be backsliding? Please do share with us.