Romans 13
HOW TO AVOID SIN

James says, “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire 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 v 14 – 15). And Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15 v 19). Jesus and James are both telling us that sin begins with our thoughts. Every action begins with a thought. It takes thought to get the body into gear for whatever we want to do.

With this in mind, Paul gives us some good advice to help us stay free from sin. He says, “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13 v 14).

Paul’s advice is profoundly simple. If we don’t want to sin, don’t think about ways in which we could sin. The more we think about it, the more tempted we become – especially if we come up with a plan that will allow us to get away with the deed we want to do. And when our minds have gone that far, desire conceives and gives birth to sin.

Let’s take Paul’s advice and stop sin at the thought process. Instead, let’s focus our minds on Jesus Christ our sinless example.

May we grow to be more like Jesus this week.

With love in our Lord,
Robert

New at Thinky Things this week:

From Bad To Worse
What had started out looking like redemption had turned to dust and ashes in the Israelites’ mouths. … Sometimes we can find ourselves in a similar situation. We follow through on the direction we believe God wants us to go, and then…
See more at https://thinkythings.com/sharon/

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Robert Prins

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email: robert@thinkythings.com