As believers growing up in Christ we can be prone to placing more focus on discouraging sin that we neglect drawing others to Christ to fulfill those basic needs we all share.  We all need to be loved and feel that we matter.  We all need security and a sense of belonging...If we just address the sin factor, we still have the underlying need factor. 

     These unfulfilled needs spring from our most basic need for Christ, our heart's home.  How we choose to fulfill that need will determine whether we proceed in God's Light and bear fruits unto Life, or in darkness and bear fruits unto death.  

     Here's an illustration that may help:

Righteousness and Fruits unto Life:              Sin and Fruits unto Death: 

            Love, Joy, Peace, etc.                         Greed, Strife, Envy, etc.      

                                             \         /

Jesus         Self

 \    /

Need

     If you find yourself succumbing to temptation, prayerfully consider with the Lord what need you may have had and were trying to fulfill.  Seek repentance for choosing your own route and ask Him to fill you with Himself.  Don't hide it in the dark but bring it into his Light for his healing.  Father God did not send Jesus to condemn us but to heal us.  It is his desire to go beyond sin, minister to our needs, and complete us...to overflowing.  The enemy would love for us to keep it in the dark where it will continue to grow.

     May we remember our deep need for Jesus on all levels and point others to Him, while staying sensitive to how He would use us as his hands and feet.  

Further Reading:  The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, Act IV, Bearing Fruit, The Song of the Heart