Today’s Passage: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16
Author’s note: It has been quite some time since the last devotional was posted. On one hand, I am very grateful to be able to attend online Bible college courses and am recovering very well from my transplant. However, I am not pleased that I have allowed things to get in the way of writing devotionals. I find them very helpful and pray that you do as well. Thank you for remaining part of our group and for reading the devotionals. May the Lord bless each of you and give you peace and strength through the Christmas season and throughout the coming year as you serve Him. – Love in Christ, Amy
The last lesson began a series regarding the kind of life that pleases God. We contrasted the two lives we may live: the life lived according to the flesh and the life lived according to the Spirit. As was mentioned then, today’s lesson will be a discussion of the lusts of the flesh and their danger to us as Christians.
Before we begin, I ask that as we discuss these sins, we try not to think about others who may be openly committing these sins. Hopefully, after we have addressed the sin in our own lives, we will be able to encourage others and help them to see the error of their ways. For today, let us focus on our own lives. When we compare ourselves to others, we may justify our sins because they seem much fewer than our standard of comparison.
On Judgment Day, we will not be graded on a curve. We will not be justified because we sin less than someone else. We will be graded according to the textbook of life: The Bible, which is the living Word of God. We will either be justified because we have responded to the gospel, have sought forgiveness according to God’s Word and have lived faithfully, or we will be lost because we have failed to respond to the gospel obediently as God commands, failed to seek forgiveness according to His guidelines or failed to continue living faithfully.
Therefore, let us focus only on our own lives when we study each of these sins. Let us consider the consequences of these sins, change our minds toward them so that we find them repulsive, seek God’s forgiveness, and focus on how to keep these sins from controlling us in the future.
One thing to remember is that we must never give up. No matter how vile the sin, it will be forgiven if we follow God’s Word to seek forgiveness. Whether our sin is a seemingly harmless “little white lie” from time to time, or if it is as “big” (according to human eyes) as harming a child, sin is sin. Let us continually seek to purge the old sins and replace them with new, pure thoughts and actions.
Have you ever washed a child or a pet only to have them immediately run outside and find the biggest mud hole to play in? Tthough they had just taken a bath, could you tell that they had been cleansed? Likely not. So it is with us. If we seek forgiveness and then return to our wallowing in the mud (see II Peter 2:22), the cleansing we received will no longer be detected. We will appear just as dirty as someone who was never bathed.
When we are cleansed, we must strive to remove the sins that are present in our lives. Then, we must fill in the gaps left behind by the sins that we remove. In the next lesson, if God wills, we will discuss the things with which we are to replace our sins. Until then, keep in mind that for everything bad that is removed, it must be replaced with something good. Just as a person intent on quitting smoking tends to chew gum or as a dieter restocks her pantry with healthy foods instead of junk food, so we must find good thoughts and activities to fill in the holes left behind.
When Jesus was casting out demons on the earth, He warned that though the house was clean and swept, the demon returned and brought seven others more evil than he. Likewise, if we remove a sin that has taken hold of us and do not replace it with something else, not only might that sin return stronger than ever, but greater sins may develop as well. The longer we hold on to a sin, the more we become its slave and the harder it is to escape from its grasp.
It is very important to remember that however we live our lives, we are reflecting our father. If we live fleshly lives filled with lusts, then we are following after the evils of our father the devil (John 8:44), but if we live righteous, pure and holy lives, then we are reflecting our Father, who is God (II John 1:9).
So what are some of these sins of the flesh that we must renounce and remove from our lives? Mark 4:19 teaches us that we can have the Word choked out of our lives by “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in.” Galatians 5:19-21 lists these as fleshly sins: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.
Let us look briefly at some of these sins.
Adultery is a sin committed against a married person. One or both of the parties engaged in sexual activity is married to another partner. Now, the sin of adultery may seem to be obvious when a married couple is living together and one is unfaithful; however, Jesus condemned any remarriage that was not because of the other spouse’s sexual unfaithfulness (Matthew 9:9). We must be careful that we do not allow the world’s perception of marriage, divorce and remarriage to water down what the Word says. Either we believe that God’s Word is true in its entirety or we must reject it completely. It is either God’s revealed Word or it is just a collection of stories from human beings like any other book. There is no middle ground because God’s Word claims to be the inspired Word of God (II Timothy 3:16).
Additionally, we may entertain lustful thoughts, which is a form of adultery in our mind that may lead to sexual sin (see Matthew 5:28). If we continue on this course of entertaining lustful thoughts, we may eventually find ourselves in an adulterous situation because our consciences have become seared and we allow ourselves to venture into dangerous territory. Always keep in mind that God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16).
Fornication is a more general term. Often, people think that fornication is sin between unmarried people and that adultery is between married people. Yet the true definition of fornication is any forbidden sexual activity. It includes adultery, fornication between unmarried people, homosexuality, bestiality, sadomasochism and all other sexual deviancies. Basically, any sexual activity that God has not ordained is sinful. The marriage bed is undefiled, indicating that healthy and wholesome lovemaking between spouses is ordained by God. Any other sexual activity is not ordained by God and is indeed fornication. Note that although the marriage bed is undefiled, spouses are not free to harm one another or belittle each other. There are many passages regarding commandments to be gentle, kind, loving and encouraging which would be violated if we are hurtful or seek to demean our spouse. We should take great care to encourage and uplift our spouses through our lovemaking.
Uncleanness is just that: anything that is not clean. We are to be pure (I John 3:3) and live holy lives (Romans 12:1, I Peter 1:16). As was noted before, sin gets us dirty. It removes all traces of cleanliness but through Jesus’ redeeming blood, we are cleansed. We must seek to rid ourselves of anything with is not pure, holy and godly.
Lasciviousness or lewdness is an enormous problem in our culture. These words basically mean that there is intent to excite sexual desires. Doesn’t that pretty much sum up the theme of most TV commercials and shows, movies and advertisements? Whether a burger is being sold by showing women in tiny little outfits or a deodorant is marketed by showing a mother’s lust for her son’s friend who is wearing it, the world is full of lewdness. When we shop for clothes, do we try to find something that enhances our derriere, builds our bust (or shows half of it) or otherwise makes us look sexy? We may think that we want to look our best and receive compliments, but what are we really seeking? Are we not attempting to excite sexual desires in men? Are we looking for a “You look nice today” or are we seeking a “Wow! You are hot!” compliment. If it is the latter, then are we not guilty of leading the weak to sin?
Jesus said in Mark 9:42, that if we cause others to stumble, we would be better off if a millstone were put around our neck and we were thrown in the ocean. And Romans 14:21 teaches us that we must always consider our actions and cease them if they could cause anyone to stumble, be offended or become weak. As women, we have a great gift in that we are alluring to men, but this talent should only be honed in the bedroom with our husbands. If we aren’t behind closed doors with our spouse, then our clothing, behavior and speech should be chaste and discreet, having a sense of shame at anything lewd, which is becoming of women who profess godliness (see I Timothy 2:9-10).
Another aspect of lewdness is in our speech. Few things reflect whether we walk in the light or in darkness more than our words. Are they encouraging or uplifting? Do we have a “dirty mind”, hearing inappropriate words that are not there because our mind is bent in that direction? Does our mind “live in the gutter”? Do we seek laughter from others by telling them unclean jokes? We must guard ourselves against lewdness and impurity by first removing ourselves from all possible sources of lewdness.
If our friends tend to tell dirty jokes or flirt with men or dress inappropriately, these attitudes will rub off on us. Just like the dirty child was stained from wallowing in the mud hole, so too will we become tainted by the dirt that comes off of our friends. We must study God’s Word, pray for help and fill our lives with wholesome conversations and activities. Eventually, if we are diligent, we will find ourselves thinking less and less of evil things and regain some of our innocence and purity. We may never shed ourselves completely of the influence that sin had on us before, but we can live our lives in constant repentance, seeking to commit those sins no more and replace our bad thoughts with prayerful thoughts. Titus 1:15 is a good verse that teaches us that “unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” A good way to measure our purity and holiness is to consider the manner of our thoughts: do they tend toward the “dirty” or the clean?
Idolatry may also seem like an obvious sin of which we have no problem, but let us consider it more carefully. An idol is not just something made with the hands which we worship. It is any object of extreme devotion. Something that is normally good or benign can become an idol if we spend all of our time doing it. We may be great at our jobs, and we are told in the Bible to keep busy, but if we work so much that we neglect our families, our job has become our idol. Sports, hobbies, television, books and any other material thing can become an idol. Even another human being such as our spouse or our children can become idols if we neglect God’s commandments and focus all of our attention on their physical needs. We must be careful to balance our lives so that our priority is such that we serve God, take care of our families and help others. Everything else should be done after we have fulfilled our priorities. This is one area in which I must personally work on with diligence. I tend to become sidetracked. Re-evaluating my priorities and making adjustments is something that I must do on a continual basis to help me keep focused on good works more than personal entertainment.
Lastly, we will consider hatred, strife and envy. At first thought, we may think that surely we don’t hate anyone or envy others. Yet upon closer examination, are there times when we do not act in the best interest of others? If we fail to love, are we not exhibiting signs of hatred? We may not openly hate someone, but if we are full of bitterness when someone gets a promotion and we were passed over, perhaps we are opening the door toward envy and hatred. If someone in our congregation is pessimistic, do we find ourselves complaining to others about the things she says? Do we do everything we can to ignore her? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies and bless them who curse us. That is difficult to do! We are to return evil with good to those who hurt us. We must love those who are hard to love. And we are to pray for those who are cruel and who use us. These are things that we must continually work on because they do not come naturally to us as humans.
Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He died for the very people who were putting Him to death! He died for those who spit on Him, cursed and mocked Him, and beat Him. Surely these were not loveable people. Jesus’ example of love is the same love that we are to show for others. Nothing anyone can do to us is greater than what the Lord did for us. Nothing is so harmful or hurtful that it cannot be soothed by our Father’s compassion.
In the next lesson, Lord willing, we will continue our discussion on fleshly life and Spirit life. We will discuss just how to live our lives according to the Spirit and how to replace the sins of the flesh with good, pure and holy things. Until then, may the Lord bless each of you as you seek His Will in your life.
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