There are many things in life that cause us to get away from what we know is right. For instance, a child of God who has been freed from the bonds of addiction, will sometimes find themselves in the wrong place, with the wrong people, at the wrong time, and once again submerged in an addiction. Once we are saved it doesn't keep us from making bad choices, and just like with anyone else, when a Christian makes a bad choice they must deal with the consequences. I think a smarter way to handle this is the way Jesus taught in Mark 9:43,45,47 "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off...if your foot causes you to stumble cut it off...if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out" (NASB). Now, I don't think we should start maiming ourselves in this manner, but I do think we should start removing those things, places, and people, that we are not strong enough to control ourselves around. We must remove what we are not strong enough to say no to. We must replace those things with something else, and that something else is Jesus Christ. When Jesus is your everything he becomes the most important thing, and your desire to please Him will override your desire for anything else.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while
every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
(John 15:1-2)
When you have been grafted into the family of God you want to bear as much good fruit as anyone else. This means in order to position ourselves for victory and success we have to pull our strength from the source of goodness that is Jesus. We have to learn to cut off the bad stuff, and to nurture the good stuff. Nobody else is to blame for your mistakes, but you don't have to continue to make mistakes. In the above verse notice Jesus says that if we bear good fruit God prunes us so that we are able to bear even better fruit. Make a commitment to yourself today that you will cut off, or remove the negative influences in your life and replace them with positive. Remember, you can't live in the past, but it does a good job teaching us life lessons toward spiritual maturity for the future.