The downward spiral of sin and the choice of sinning

James 1:14-15 (NLT) 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

Genesis 4:6-7 (NLT) 6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”


Bernard of Clairvaux taught the following.



The process, order, and bondage of sin and choices of sin:

  1. Sensual Desire—listening to our fallen nature, or the voice of others, or the thoughts from the evil one.
  2. Consent—succumbing to the idea of sinning
  3. Action—the act of sinning
  4. Habit—repeating the act over and over again
  5. Contempt—No one—even God, is going to tell me what to do! Proverbs 18:3 (NLT) 3 Doing wrong leads to disgrace and scandalous behaviour brings contempt.


(Adapted from P 34 Ralph Martin. The Fulfillment of all Desire)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning to hate your sin

Image
   John 5:13-15 (NLT) 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.   Lord give me grace, power, and effort to maintain a resilience against sin.  Sin is ALWAYS a dark path. It ALWAYS pays wages.  The wage of sin is death.  Sin will always hurt, always destroy, always wound—you, relationships, stuff, goals, etc.  It is a killer.  It is a wound-er.  It is a consumer of all that is healthy, strong, good, and perfect. Learn to hate sin. Learn to fear sin. Learn to run as fast as you can away from sin. Search deeply for hidden sin. Be disgusted with your sin.  Repent, repent, repent daily for your sin. Be afraid of your sin. Be petrified of your sin. Be worried about your sin. And keep repenting, keeping running into the arms of grace and the arm
Read more

Dumb Mistakes

Image
      Dumb Mistakes   Why do Christians, pastors, leaders, ushers, —everyday Christians— make real dumb mistakes.  Now I am talking about real dumb moral mistakes—lying, cheating, immorality, thievery—-like why? Christine Pohl warns us as follows: “By compartmentalizing aspects of our actions or thoughts, we are able to ignore major inconsistencies and wrongdoing.” Ever heard yourself asking this question: ‘What was he thinking when he did that?’   You think of moral failure or just plain —dumb decisions—and you ask that question!   How does that happen?  What were they ‘thinking?’  Well, Pohl suggest “he wasn’t thinking he had stopped thinking and reflecting.  Instead, the person deliberately excluded a part of his or her life from spiritual and moral scrutiny.”   So now a word of help!  Do the daily examen!  (See.  https://pwcusick.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-examen.html )   If there ever was a culture, a time, a season when Christians need to act like Christians —it is now!   The ancie
Read more

It's just too noisy!

Image
  “Be still and know that I am God:   Ps 46:11 Silence What a pile of noise! Noise—Noise—Noise. Noise in my head. Noise in my ears. Noise in my eyes. Noise—Noise—Noise. Are you crying out for silence? His presence manifests itself, not in fire or wind or thunder, but in a still small voice.  Only in this quietness does he give us the certainty of his presence.  We usually cannot hear this because we are making so much inner noise… The word from the Word is often something like “Grow up!”  I suddenly see the far more important things are at stake than my feelings…We do not always get specific answers, even when we invoke his name, but we always get the Answerer! … Peter Kreeft- Payer for Beginners Silence is not just silence or emptiness or nothingness but…the best preparation there is because then there is no obstacle.  And God’s love—since it is no pervasive—just comes in, like the weather, and like it fills any empty spaces. …Thomas Keating— Silence and Centring P
Read more