7 Deadly sins (Laziness)

I will write about this later.

7 Deadly sins (Lust)

Lust: To have an intense desire.

Ok, so of the seven deadly sins, this is the one I struggle with the most. I am a night and day difference from where I was 5-10 years ago, but I still have my moments.

I call lust the silent destroyer because unlike other sins, you can hide lust within the depths of your being and nobody is privy to your issue......but it destroys you from within.

I could be talking to a woman and looking her in the eyes and sincerely listening to her intently, all the while catching glimpses of her body and wondering what it might look like with nothing else on.

I can recall when I really started trying to remove lust from my life. My wife and I were watching an award ceremony on TV and my wife said, "Tom look at the dress on this woman, she might as well not even be wearing anything".

She was actually helping me along in my sin without knowing it.

At that moment I sat her down on the couch and told her that I struggle with lust. I explained that I had no desire to act on any of it, but it was a real struggle and I would need her help to get me through it.

I am convinced that the majority of my lust issue stems from having intercourse with other women before I found my wife and got married.

God doesn't tell us not to have sex before marriage to be mean.

He tells us not to have sex before marriage because He knows that the road afterwards is going to be so much more difficult to travel down afterwards.

What truly helped me out of it was I had a great mentor in Christ named Pastor Jake (He is still a great mentor in my life). He shared with me and listened to me and told me about this book called Every Man's Battle that he thought would help me even further.

It did.

To any man that reads this that struggles with lust..........which is every man that reads this, I highly recommend that book.

I still have my moments.

I am imperfect..........but my marriage is so much better now that I am in the trenches fighting against the sin instead of being buddies with it.

When you lust after another woman. You steal from your spouse. You steal the thoughts that she and only she is entitled to.

Lust.

Get in the trenches, men.

7 Deadly sins (Envy)

Envy: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.

Did you ever know anyone that no matter what they did in life it resulted in a win?

It seems like no matter if they make a bad choice or a good one that they come out of it smelling like a rose.

I knew this guy that life just happened right for him. Anything he touched turned to gold.

We were friends.

It was at a stage in my life where I felt like everything that came to me I had to work extremely hard to get it. Nothing came easy for me.

That alone is a tough thing to go through but add to the mix a guy who seemingly worked hard for nothing, and everything just showed up on his lap.

It began to drive me insane.

I seriously remember praying one day:

"God, why are things so difficult for me? I am trying to live my life the way you ask me to and this guy doesn't pray, doesn't read the Bible, doesn't go to church, and you are bending over backwards to make sure he has it all"!

Well God wasn't listening to me that day. This dude just kept reaping things he wasn't sowing.

I began to despise this guy even though he did nothing wrong to me.

My friend turned into my enemy, not because of something he did to me, but because of my perception that I was more deserving of good things than he was.

I would almost guarantee that if my envy had not gotten in the way, that he and I would be good friends to this day.

Do you see the danger of envy?

God tells us, "I am sufficient".

Envy shouts back, "I deserve more".

Envy leads to destruction.

Countries go to war all the time because of what another country has and they feel entitled to it.
Proverbs 14:30 -A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Perhaps you are feeling uncomfortable today.

Maybe you are in need of some inner peace.

I would ask you, are you suffering from spiritual osteoporosis?

Do you need to let go of some envy?

Let it go.

It will give peace to your soul.