Selfish . . . Sins

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Genesis 3:6     So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 

Proverbs 16:2     All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.

Proverbs 16:5-6      Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.  By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

Proverbs 16:25      There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.   

Proverbs 28:13     Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Isaiah 1:9-11     Unless the LORD of hosts    had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.  Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers  of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD.  “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle.  I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.

Romans 3:23     For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

Romans 5:12     Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Romans 6:12-14     Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 6:22     But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Romans 7:15-20, 23-25     For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. . .  but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.   

Romans 8:5-8     For those who lived according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

1 Corinthians 10:13-14     No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.  Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

2 Corinthians 5:21     For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Ephesians 5:17-18     Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. . .

Colossians 3:5-6     Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

James 1:14-15     But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 4:7-8     Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

James 4:17     So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

 

Human beings, although created in God’s image; and He who does not sin, recognizes that we humans He created are full of selfish, sinful desires.  We frequently do not stop and wait for His timing nor do we disregard our desires and wants.  We go after them, and work hard and diligently to see them granted.  We want what we want when we want it.   Humans  desire things, and do not like waiting for the most part.  Impatience just adds to our idea of being fulfilled immediately.  Certainly, I think in our country we are so accustomed to getting, purchasing, or letting others know what we want and receive these desires so soon; it is almost as though we do not have to really work toward them.  Our country for the most part expects to get things soon after a desire hits.  

For sure, I have acted on desires or wants and done things to obtain them in the soonest manner possible.  At times those choices have cost me dearly–one would think I would learn.  And I have some, but still I will find my brain exploring how I could manage to get this–but I do ask God for direction as to waiting or going ahead.  I am very aware I tend to be selfish.

God started dealing with our sinful natures in the Garden–the place where He walked with Adam and Eve.  We want what we want.  We are impatient, and can so easily talk ourselves into good reasons why we should get what we want.  ‘It is not so bad; it looks like great and tasty fruit.  Why should I not have it?  Why would God have forbidden us to eat that?  What harm could it do to eat this?’ 

But that is part of our human nature; we constantly battle between our desires and wants and what we know God does or does not want for us.  As a child, my Dad used to tell me that we had good   and bad within us.  Each time we were tempted to do bad, we had to make a choice.  You push away the bad (angel, devil) from your left shoulder, and the desire would decrease so we could choose to do what is right.  Both the right and wrong desires live within us.  What will you do, Kathy?  Which shoulder would get the brushing?  I must admit, that that visual worked most of the time. 

I was certainly not always obedient,  and did more than my share of sneaky and bad things–things I knew were wrong, or had already been told to NOT do.   But I could be challenged to follow friends and go on an “adventure” that I knew I was not supposed to be going on.  Pride and selfishness are indeed considered root causes of sin, often leading to actions that are harmful to one selfish and others.   Pride can lead to a lack of concern for others, and manifest as greed, laziness, and anger toward others. 

We are born with a a selfish bent.  We scream for food and for diaper changes, and to have any discomfort immediately taken care of, to seek comfort fast.  We do not like being uncomfortable from birth.  We cry with  belly aches, with hunger, with dirty uncomfortable diapers, being wet and from urine creeping out of the diaper sneaking up our back or stomach, or being nauseous, over-tired, and so many other times when there is discomfort.   We learn quickly that by expressing our discomfort our needs to feel better will be attempted to be met.  It reinforces our selfish needs–originally that are basic needs, but they grow to other wants and desires.

Humans are selfish, and born to think more of ourselves than others.  And this leads to sinning–we see something someone else has and wants it.  Do we steal it?  Do we just want it and maybe try to buy something close to it–or better than the one seen?  Do we yearn and yearn for it.  David yearned for a woman so badly that he was willing to bring her into his home–knowing she was the wife of one of his friends and good soldiers, Uriah, and slept with her.  She became pregnant and when he found it out, he maneuvered things so that her husband was killed.  Then he married her.   Huge sins, and God was very displeased with him.  The child died .  And for the rest of his life, there were awful problems within his family.  A daughter was raped by her half brother, and son killed his half brother, and son railroaded his father into abandoning the palace and running as his son was overthrowing the thrown.  David was deceived, and by the end of his life, quite alone.

Lord, You designed us to be able to choose.  And we often sin when we want something that does not belong to us, and belongs to others and we consider how to get them.  We crave for something that is not for us.  That is a sin.  Our Lord wants us to be satisfied with what we do have.  It is wrong for us to compare and crave what others have, and that can lead us to sinning–stealing, not being happy or satisfied with the blessings we have,  trying to obtain that which we desire.  Temptations are desires for something we want–and often they are desires which are not good for us–unhealthy–cigarettes, alcohol, spending too much money or things not needed or whatever.  We yearn for something else, making us feel crave something not needed, only wanted, and but making us more selfish and stuck on our wants and desires.

Lord, thank You for teaching me to want You more than material things.  You are eternal, and things, NOTHING, is forever except You and eternity.  I praise You and all You have done for ‘me and mybellaviews.’