Sin (and iniquity) is the disease all men experience.
The symptoms of that disease in the will are summarized as selfishness and self-centeredness.
The will of man is focused from the cradle on me, myself, and I. Everyone outside of that circle is a distant fourth!
Some people are naturally less selfish/centered than others. And many people learn to control their selfishness and self-centeredness. Some however don’t even try. Some prefer that “me first” attitude in life.
2 Timothy 3:2 (in the last days) For men will be lovers of self,…
Watch This: https://youtu.be/SGMxmMUO40U
Is it OK to be selfish? What does the bible say?
WOW! So is it OK??
The will is the gateway to sin/perdition and to righteousness.
James 1: 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Lust is NOT a sin.
Sin requires conception(joining) with another element.
When lust joins with the will (saying yes) then sin is birthed in the heart.
When lusts conceive with the will, it is sin.
If the sin is ever acted out it brings death(consequences).
That’s why Jesus said that all the sins begin in the heart (envy,greed,anger,revenge,adultery,,…)
But many Christians think bad, evil stuff and don’t consider it sin unless it is acted out (in word or deed). Then they realize they sinned because of the action.
James says the acting out produces death(consequences).
Many times, the sin is not acknowledged but the consequence is acknowledged as the sin. And the repentance is for the consequence, not for the sin. If you only confess the consequence of the sin you still have the wicked heart that produced the sin. You have not dealt with the base motivation of selfishness/self-centeredness that drives the will.
Yes, you can and should truly repent, not of the action/consequences per se, but to your will saying yes to the evil thought. That is the sin. The heart being evil, consents to whatever the lust has presented to the will and the will, motivated by selfish desire, has agreed (said yes!) with the lust [this is the thing I need/want/believe].
Example:
A person does you wrong (fill in the blank).
You are hurt and embarrassed and angry.
Lust for revenge /getting even presents itself to your will.
The will agrees that is what you want/need to feel better.
The sin of revenge is conceived at this point.
You plot a strategy/repartee and say/do it!!
You feel bad because of the consequences (bad feelings, broken relationship, damage to …)
So now you repent -because of the consequences!! That is, because of the bad feelings, broken relationship, etc
Not because of the sin- the need/desire to get revenge to feel better.
To repent of the sin you confess the evil(selfish) desire you have to make them pay in some way. Maybe the sin is pride (you are better, you didn’t deserve that,…),maybe its anger, maybe its envy(you want the respect they have,…),maybe maybe –
God will reveal the actual sin to you to repent of.
Until you have dealt with the root of sin so that selfishness/self-centeredness is no longer the motivator for saying yes to a lust, you are doomed to the same response next time, and on and on.
When you only repent of the consequence the sin is still lurking in the heart.
Lets say in the above example (where you repented of consequences) it happens again and this time you didn’t act out (you didn’t say or do anything because you learned a lesson! :) )
But in your heart, you still think/believe the same evil desire - you just stifle/control yourself.
That sin is just awaiting the right moment to act out somewhere down the line.
Repent of the sin not just the consequences!
In light of these go back to your Feb rating done in Session 2 and prayerfully re-rate yourself if necessary:
MAN: in IMAGE OF God: MEASURE (of hindrance)
Mind: Will Selfishness ,Self -centeredness
Next time – the Aid/antidote to selfishness and self-centeredness!
