No Excuses in Relationship with Self

We often kneel before God and wonder how we got to a place of sin and needing His forgiveness yet again. How could I have been so foolish? Where did I go wrong? I want to live for God every day and in every way, but too many times find myself in the middle of doing what I know to be wrong in His sight.

The road to sin begins in your thought life.

• When you commit a sin, it never “just happens.” Sinful acts begin as attitudes or temptations in your mind and emotions.

For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly (Mark 7:21-22).

Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:14-15).

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (James 4:1).

• Everybody has impure thoughts of one type or another. That’s part of the package of being alive. Having an impure thought come into your mind is not a sin by itself; choosing to entertain the thought is a sin.
• A good guideline is not to allow yourself to consider or dwell on anything God would not want you to. Don’t allow yourself to think about sinning or ways you could go about sinning.

Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Romans 13:14).

What areas are the hardest for you when it comes to pure thought?

What are some ways that we can “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”?

 

No Excuses Challenge

What area does Satan have the most success in causing you to stumble? Name the sin and find a scripture that deals with it specifically. Make it a point to memorize this verse before the end of the day.

“The trouble with always leaving yourself a way out is that you will take it.”
Robert Brault