We have what is well known as The Seven Deadly Sins
Pride -opposite of humility
Covetousness – opposite of liberality
Lust – opposite of chastity
Anger – opposite of meekness
Gluttony – oppositie temperance
Envy – opposite of brotherly love
Sloth – opposite of diligence
Pride we have discussed as being snobby, above others such as the so-called prayer the Pharisee prayed beside the sinner/tax collector.
Covetousness has been discussed within the 10 Commandments. Be happy with what you have and be happy for what others have. There is no room for jealousy in God’s home.
Lust — wanting more of anything and desiring more of anything and even doing more of anything that worshiping God. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us what the lusts of the flesh are: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings.
Anger – one can be anger and not sin. It is by studying the Bible, worshiping the Lord and getting involved with other Christians that you learn to control your temper. Again it comes down to STOP, THINK, REACT. Always go back to the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT and LOVE IS…
Gluttony — this does not only mean food. It means anything we become gluttons of. How many keychains do you have in the closet? How many postcards are hiding in the drawer. What good is a collection if it is not in use or on display? Most people do refer to this with the regards of eating. We have no reason to stuff ourselves with what we do not need. God WILL provide our needs and that should suffice for us.
Envy we have covered with the 10 COMMANDMENTS. Don’t always desire what everybody else has. Perhaps God has something better for you waiting on the other side of the door!
Sloth — This means laziness. Idle hands make mischief I was often warned by my mother. Now I can have my hands still for very long at all lol. But don’t become so lazy in your life and in your Spiritual walk that you lose interest and just drag your feet along. A lazy person does not work to earn their food or help with chores. We are to represent Christ, the Savior in our walk and in the way we dress and keep our lives. It is an easy trap to fall into, but not an easy one to get out of. Always beware less you fall into sin.
Homosexuality — Genesis 19 records the true story of how God destroyed an entire city because they were engaging in homosexual activity. Romans 1:24-27 describes homosexuality very clearly, even though it does not name it as such. (God does not lable people – people lable people).
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24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Because Christ had already died on the cross for the sins of people by this time, God could not destroy the sinners who engaged in this.
Pornography in all its terms – nudity, voyerism, sexual abuse, obxcenen writings, drawings, photographs or the like – especially with no artistic value, videos or movies, television and audio can be included here. Audio is the new Dial-a-lover type ads. Sex before marriage is another form of sexual deviance. Porography is idolatry which is a lust of the flesh going against God’s ways.
As a close to this, there are many more absolutes that Christians must start standing up for. If we don’t we are responsible to some degree of what happens.
So the things we MUST be ABSOLUTE about include, but are definitely not limited to:
Murder
Adultery
Theft
Stealing
Lying
Coveting
Arrogance
Pornography
Idolatry
Homosexuality
Abortion
Anger
Gluttany
Sloth
Virginity
Forgiveness
Loving All Humans
Not Being Prejudiced
Faithfulness
Thankfulness
Mercy
Obedience
Peace
…and many, many more.
Today, before going any further, take a good deep look inside your heart and see what is really there. Do as the Psalmist said – Search me oh God and know my thoughts…see if there be any wicked way in me.
Then ask God to forgive you of your wicked ways and turn from them to go back no more. With God’s help, all things are possible.
If God is good enough to forgive us, who killed His Innocent Son, then who are we to not follow likewise in example. We cannot be perfect as Jesus was perfect, but we can strive to do perfect in what we do. “Be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven, is perfect.”
Dope is for dopes, Drugs are for dummies