Romans 6:12
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body”
If I were to let sin reign in my body, then…
I would water my lawn any day or hour during drought restrictions
I would under-report my income to the IRS
I would pay my workers as little as I could possibly get away with
I would curse at irritating drivers
I would cut them off, flip them off
I would build-up rage, foam at the mouth and scream
I would be rude, unkind, egotistical, and self-centered
I would not be nice
I would let my mouth say anything it had on its tongue
I would not guard my speech
I would say hurtful things all day to anybody for any reason
I would demean, humiliate and sneer at weak, unattractive people
I would hate anyone different than I
I would be a rotten son of a female dog
I would be a rotten friend and husband
I would cheat on my wife
I would seduce my neighbor’s wife up the street
I would seduce my neighbor’s wife down the street
I would seduce my friends
I would watch porn
I would peep
I would seduce teenaged girls
I would amass a huge porn collection
I would be divorced by my wife
I would be lazy and undisciplined and
I would loose initiative and drive and ambition and
I would waste all my day and
I would become broke financially
I would get out of business and sit around all day
I would buy everything that attracts my attention
I would have tons of broken-down, unrepaired “man-toys”
I would have huge credit card debts
I would loose all my investments
I would worry all day about my retirement days coming-up
I would beat-up that rude guy and
I would be arrested for assault and battery and
I would be hospitalized with serious injuries from the rude guy and
I would stalk the rude guy and
I would be arrested for stalking the rude guy and
I would be put in prison
I would kill the guy that tried to rape me in prison
I would be given a life sentence for the murder of the guy that tried to rape me in prison
I would be so depressed and full of hate
I would be paroled finally and continue my downward spiral
I would be miserable
I would commit suicide because of all my depression and despair
And, who knows what I am really capable of?
What are you capable of choosing to let…?
Maybe I’d be all of these…
“…you must no longer
live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live,
in the futility of their minds
[and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls], 18
for their [moral] understanding is darkened and
their reasoning is clouded;
[they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God
[with no share in it;
this is] because of the
[willful] ignorance and
spiritual blindness
that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the
hardness and insensitivity of their heart.
19 And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy],
having become callous and unfeeling,
have given themselves over
[as prey] to
unbridled sensuality,
eagerly craving the practice
of every kind of impurity
[that their desires may demand].
–Ephesians 4:17-19
sexually immoral or
greedy, or is an
idolater
[devoted to anything that takes the place of God], or is a
reviler
[who insults or
slanders or
otherwise verbally abuses others], or is a
drunkard or a
swindler
–1 Corinthians 5:11
Do you not know that the unrighteous
will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither
the sexually immoral, nor
idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor
effeminate [by perversion], nor
those who participate in homosexuality, nor
thieves, nor
the greedy, nor
drunkards, nor
revilers
[whose words are used as weapons to
abuse,
insult,
humiliate,
intimidate, or
slander],
nor swindlers
will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
5 So put to death and deprive of power the
evil longings
of your earthly body
[with its sensual,
self-centered instincts]
immorality,
impurity,
sinful passion,
evil desire, and
greed,
which is [a kind of] idolatry
[because it replaces your devotion to God]. 6
Because of these
[sinful] things
the [divine] wrath of God is coming
[b]on the sons of disobedience
[those who
fail to listen and who
routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts], 7
and in these [sinful things]
you also once walked,
when you were habitually living in them
[without the knowledge of Christ]. 8
But now rid yourselves [completely]
of all these things:
anger,
rage,
malice,
slander, and
obscene
(abusive,
filthy,
vulgar)
language from your mouth. 9
Do not lie to one another,
for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices, 10
and have put on the new
[spiritual] self
who is being continually renewed
in true knowledge
in the image of Him
who created the new self— 11
a renewal
in which there is
no [distinction between]
Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
[nor between nations
whether] barbarian or Scythian,
[nor in status
whether] slave or free,
but Christ is all,
and in all
[so believers are equal in Christ,
without distinction].
– Colossians 3:5-11
But, the grace of God has been heaped upon me, and by the power of His Holy Spirit living and working in me – I am not these things. I am strong in Him. Only in Him.
What about you?
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