"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
James 4:4-7
Whether or not we have committed the specific sin of adultery, this still applies to us. Partly because God uses adultery as a symbolic representation of our disloyalty to him elsewhere in the scriptures, and partly because we are all subject to lust and envy, whether or not we act on it.
It is interesting that we aren't supposed to be friends with the world. :) I think that is not because there is not good in the world, but because if we get too used to the bad and too comfortable with all the corruption and evil, then we won't work to further God's improvement plan and make a better world. :) The world isn't all bad, and WE aren't all bad. There are just things about the world, and about us, that need to be improved, and we need to remember that, always, and work on making those changes. Some of those things are lust and envy... we are going to feel those things. How we deal with that and respond to that will either make us more likely to give in or more likely to build up a resistance. We often hear "the devil made me do it," but the devil can't *make* us do anything. We are tempted, but we *choose* whether to give into that temptation or not. If we resist him, the temptation won't last forever... the devil will flee.
Today, let's submit to God's will and not the devil's. Let's put up some resistance when temptations come along, and remember to choose the right. :)
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
James 4:4-7
Whether or not we have committed the specific sin of adultery, this still applies to us. Partly because God uses adultery as a symbolic representation of our disloyalty to him elsewhere in the scriptures, and partly because we are all subject to lust and envy, whether or not we act on it.
It is interesting that we aren't supposed to be friends with the world. :) I think that is not because there is not good in the world, but because if we get too used to the bad and too comfortable with all the corruption and evil, then we won't work to further God's improvement plan and make a better world. :) The world isn't all bad, and WE aren't all bad. There are just things about the world, and about us, that need to be improved, and we need to remember that, always, and work on making those changes. Some of those things are lust and envy... we are going to feel those things. How we deal with that and respond to that will either make us more likely to give in or more likely to build up a resistance. We often hear "the devil made me do it," but the devil can't *make* us do anything. We are tempted, but we *choose* whether to give into that temptation or not. If we resist him, the temptation won't last forever... the devil will flee.
Today, let's submit to God's will and not the devil's. Let's put up some resistance when temptations come along, and remember to choose the right. :)
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