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Can we rightly discern for ourselves what is good for us, or what is the right way to live?
Humans are funny beings. We think we know what we are doing most of the time and that we are pretty clever, and that what we do, for the most part, is really quite good. Sometimes we know we make the wrong choices and decide or resolve that we will never make the same mistake again. Then there are all those times in between when we know we are weak and do the wrong thing. That is precisely why we need to refer to our most precious book of life — the Holy Bible — God’s instruction manual. Our Father so desires for us to make the right choices, not once or twice, but always.
God loves us so very deeply and desires fully that we pay attention, concentrate, read His Word, and then after studying and meditating on the examples He provides for our learning and admonition, to get out there and truly live life the way that pleases Him and benefits us. Sounds easy and it can be if we allow His Spirit to lead us. Human nature is the inner struggle we need to fight with, and if we listen to God and practice over and over again, all becomes second nature and in time, over the course of our lives, we can achieve a righteous way of life, walking humbly with our God. It truly is indeed a case of taking one day at a time and striving for the best.
Temptation will always be there while we live in this present, evil age but we have God with us and for us, therefore we cannot lose if we listen, learn, and apply with an attitude of loving obedience. This abundant life (John 10:10) that God so graciously gave to us as a gift is ours to live now but we need to really focus without all the worldly distractions that compete for our attention.
The 7 Deadly Sins are really the 3 Deadly Sins
1 John 2:15-17 says “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides for ever”.
There is deception in this world everywhere we look. The world is saturated with deception from the devil (Revelation 12:9). His overriding desire is to kill the whole of humanity via his various methods, which include tempting us based on our human nature and weaknesses. There is nothing exempt from deception in this world except for God’s Word. No wonder we are told to hold fast to what we have from the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. I truly cannot imagine the full depth of Paul’s gamut of emotions when he wrote these words under divine inspiration, but I do understand his fervour and his pleading with God’s called out ones — the elect — to refrain from all worldly lusts.
We know we all sin (1 John 1:8) and we all have certain weaknesses. Our hearts are full of justification. In Jeremiah 17:9 God tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” We need God in our lives to fix our hearts through healing and working with us, just like the Potter fashioning His clay in Jeremiah 18:1-11, where God inspired Jeremiah to speak to the people of Israel to turn from their evil doings and make their ways good. Isaiah 64:8 also mentions that God’s people are the clay and the work of His hands, as the Master Potter. We can be confident of this very thing, that God will ensure the final product is finished for use in His service (Philippians 1:6).
Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life are the 3 big categories where humans encounter many temptations from an inner desire or weakness (James 1:13-15). These weaknesses are fanned or fuelled by the devil who influences us with thoughts, what we see with our eyes, what we crave in appetites, and how these things will make us feel. They are all temporary, and we need to resist and overcome these drives or urges. This takes much practice, diligence, relying on God’s Spirit and not on our own ability. We simply cannot do it without God.
Some may have a weakness for lust of the eyes; engaging in sexual immorality, pornography, or even seemingly “innocent” flirting may be the issue because it feels good. For another it may be a conflict with serving mammon (money) over God (Matthew 6:24). Some now believe we no longer need to tithe which is complete nonsense. They once believed it was right to tithe but due to their weakness and love of money they have become hard hearted and kept the money for themselves. Their wicked hearts justified to themselves that tithing was no longer required for reasons which are completely unbalanced.
Others may stumble with consumption of excessive wine as in drunkenness, excessive food as in gluttony, smoking substances which are harmful and alter the delicate chemical balance God created in our bodies, or any number of items that are not good for us and fight against the flesh. Another may stumble with gossip or lying by telling just “small lies” or “half truths” to avoid hurting others’ feelings. There are many ways we can sin with our eyes, words, thoughts, and actions.
From lifelong observations of the world around me, I see pride in both men and women, but it displays differently. For men, in general, they have a predisposition to please women, especially their wives (think about Abraham with Sarah, Adam with Eve) and enjoy and respond to flattery; they also like to be in charge, wield power and feel important, and have a competitive side or predisposition. They are visual beings and enjoy looking at beautiful women. They were designed by God to desire a woman and this is good but not when their desires are not in alignment with God’s desire for men. Some biblical scriptures to refer to, which warn men to keep far away from prostitutes and all forms of sexual immorality and are most helpful, include Proverbs 6:20-29, 1 Timothy 2:8, Ephesians 5:3-7, 5:25, and 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5.
For women they are predisposed to wanting to please men/husbands by looking attractive, pretty or beautiful to them, as they feel validated. That is fine as long as it measures up to God’s instructions, which sadly, many ignore. This is what the world has done — influenced their thoughts into wanting to stay young and look as young as possible for as long as possible. There is nothing wrong with trying to look our best by keeping ourselves clean, neat and modest and by aligning our methods to those of what God gives to us in the Bible. Women would do well to remember 1 Peter 3:3, 1 Timothy 2:9, and Jeremiah 4:30. There is no room for makeup which masks our true identity. False eyelashes, black rings around eyes, coloured cheeks, and painted lips. If we research the origins of painted lips we can hop on the internet and see that this came from Egypt where the temple prostitutes wore red lipstick to entice the men who then engaged in abhorrent sexual conduct with them.
As technology advances and various products become available to help keep our teeth white, colour our greying hair, remove spots off our skin, and many other interventions that include going “under the knife” in surgical procedures, one has to pause and stop to think whether what we are doing is really a good thing or not. Those who are weak in this area and have issues with becoming older are predisposed to wanting these sorts of products and services. So many products contain toxic substances which can cause illness and disease. It is one thing to have surgery for a life saving event, but to cosmetically enhance the lips or nose, remove flabby skin, or whatever else is not a need, but a want, is not a good thing. This money could be used in so many more productive ways in helping others. Lifenets (charitable organisation) readily comes to mind, which donates full funds to worthy causes all around the world without fear of corruption.
Lustful Eyes, Lustful Hearts and Prideful Ways
If we truly desire to do God’s will we will avoid all forms of wrongful desires which fall under these three categories in 1 John 2:16. Surely we want to be pleasing to our most wonderful Father and Creator?!
Those with pride need to humble themselves, listen to God, get on their knees and pray. They should avoid all forms of deception out there which may massage their egos into thinking they are doing something good by looking at other or alternative doctrines such as evolution, “flat earth theory”, sacred names, exact dates when Christ will return, and any number of weird philosophies from the world. Their weakness lies with knowledge and thinking they are well informed. They have itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4). The apostle Peter speaks of false teachers in 2 Peter 2. Thoughts may include “what if” there is something else out there that they are missing out on or which may be new. God tells us to hold fast to what we have and do not let anyone take our crown (Revelation 3:11) and that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). We should be building on our foundations from His Word in the Bible, not adding to it or taking away from our instruction. Woe to those who do so! Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32, Revelation 22:18-19.
For those with lust of the eyes or flesh, they need to get to know themselves very closely because the devil surely does. He knows all our weaknesses and then subtlety uses them against us. He is so crafty, wily , sneaky, destructive, and is likened to a roaring lion seeking the weak whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
We all suffer from weaknesses as we all have human nature. We are in this fight together. This is an all out battle for our spiritual lives. Every Christian has a target on their back. What will we do about it? Examine yourselves and know where your weaknesses are. God will show you if you ask for help in prayer. Be like King David and ask for God to show you your secret sins if you want to know what you cannot seem to see. We can find this account in Psalm 19:12. The whole of Psalm 19 is an outstanding humble tribute by David to our almighty wonderful God, and it is most encouraging to read in its entirety.
God encourages us to be strong and know that we can do this! We are to think on good things, profitable things, things of benefit, as stated in Philippians 4:8. What could be more beneficial than to develop and deepen our personal relationship with God? Don’t conform or compromise with one foot in the world and one foot out of the world. This way of life truly is all or nothing. Don’t become entangled with the cares of this life which are vanity. God warns us in Revelation 3:16 what He will do with those who succumb to their prideful lusts. Finally brethren, above all ask God each and every day to create in you a clean heart just like David did in Psalm 51:10.