There is something many of us do without even realizing it.

We keep asking, “How close can I get to sin without actually sinning?”

How close can I get to temptation and still say I am a Christian?

How long can I stay in that private and immoral conversation before it becomes something else?

How much physical closeness can I have with someone I am sexually attracted to before things go too far?

How many times can I watch that pornography content before it starts affecting my mind?

How much can I entertain that immoral friendship before my convictions become weak?

How far can I go and still say, “But I didn't actually do anything wrong”?

My dear friend you need to stop asking that question.

Because the goal of a Christian should never be to discover how close we can get to sin. The goal should be to discover how far we can stay away from it.

Imagine someone standing at the edge of a very deep pit. And someone tells him, “Please, move away from there. It is dangerous.”

But he says, “No, I am careful.”

Then he moves a little closer. “Don't worry. I won't fall.”

He moves closer again. “I just want to see how close I can get without falling.”

What kind of wisdom is that?

If you know there is a pit, why are you measuring your distance from the pit instead of walking away from it?

That is exactly what happens when we keep testing how close we can get to sin.

Then suddenly, you find yourself in a situation you never planned for. And you begin to ask, “How did I get here?”

You got there because you kept walking toward what God told you to walk away from.

Sometimes, the problem is not that we don't know what is wrong. The problem is that we want to see how close we can get to what is wrong before we finally stop.

And that is dangerous. Because temptation does not usually begin with the final act.

It begins with permission. You permit the conversation. You permit the thought. You permit the private meeting. You permit the emotional attachment. You permit the secret. You permit the repeated exposure.

You keep giving yourself reasons why you can handle it. And little by little, your sensitivity to sin becomes weaker.

Something that once disturbed your conscience begins to feel normal. Something that once made you uncomfortable becomes something you now defend.

And that is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a believer.

Because sometimes, the biggest victory of temptation is not making you commit the sin immediately. It is making you comfortable enough to keep standing near it.

Think about fire. You don't have to put your whole body inside fire to get burned. You can get burned simply by getting too close.

In the same way, you don't have to plan to destroy your life. You can simply keep getting closer and closer to the things that can destroy it.

And one day, you discover that your “small compromise” has become a serious problem.

If you are constantly asking, “Can I do this and still be okay?”

Maybe your heart is not looking for holiness. Maybe your heart is looking for permission. And my dear friend, don't negotiate with temptation.

Run from it. There are some doors you should not keep opening.

There are some conversations you should not keep having. There are some places you should not keep visiting. There are some relationships you should create boundaries around.

There are some things you should stop watching. There are some situations where the most spiritual thing you can do is simply walk away.

Don't wait until you fall before you decide to leave. Don't wait until your heart becomes attached. Don't wait until the temptation becomes stronger.

Walk away while you still have the strength to walk away.

Joseph did not stand around Potiphar's wife trying to prove how strong he was.

When the situation became dangerous, he ran.

Sometimes, running is not weakness. Sometimes, running is wisdom.

You don't prove your spiritual maturity by staying around temptation and saying, “I can handle it.”

You prove your maturity by knowing when to say, “This is dangerous for my soul, so I am leaving.”

You may think you are strong today. But you don't know what prolonged exposure to temptation can do to you tomorrow.

Don't test yourself. Don't test temptation. Don't test how much your heart can take. Don't test how close you can get to sin.

Protect your walk with God. Protect your peace. Protect your conscience. Protect your future. And protect the testimony God is building through your life.

Because sometimes, what destroys people is not one big decision. It is a series of small decisions that looked harmless at the beginning.

Please, don't wait until you are broken before you learn the wisdom of boundaries.

You don't have to touch the fire to know that it burns. You don't have to fall into the pit to know that it is dangerous. And you don't have to experience every consequence personally before you learn to obey God's warning.

Sometimes, God is not asking you to prove how strong you are. He is simply asking you to trust Him enough to walk away.

So, stop testing how close you can get to sin. Stop playing with what can destroy your peace. Stop entertaining what you have been praying for God to help you overcome.

Stop standing at the edge of the pit and calling it faith.

Walk away. Because there is no prize for getting as close to sin as possible without falling.

The real victory is being far enough away that when temptation comes, you don't have to negotiate with it.

I am Anthony Chukwuebuka - THE BOO OF THE BOOLESS; You don't need to stand at the edge of the cliff to prove you won't fall. Sometimes, the greatest evidence that you value your life is simply choosing not to stand there in the first place.

And spiritually, you don't prove your love for God by seeing how close you can get to sin without falling; you prove it by loving Him enough to walk away before you fall.