I'm currently reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, and if you haven't read it I highly recommend it. What I read today was really thought provoking, so I'm going to do my best to articulate...
I think a lot of times we kid ourselves into thinking that just because we don't actually, physically commit a sin that we've dodged the bullet. But not only are we called to not sin, we are called to avoid harvesting any thoughts or feelings that lead us in sin's direction.
"Therefore *consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry...But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." - Colossians 3: 5, 8
I think it's interesting here that Paul has two separate lists--one of physical sins and one of sins of the heart. In God's eyes, they're one in the same; but we've somehow gotten away with categorizing them as either "actual sin" or "close calls," and even beyond that we've managed to excuse some sins while punishing others at the legal level.
The original text literally translates to, "Therefore, put to death the members of your earthly body..." We are called to action here. It's not just attempting to avoid things like immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed; it's actively casting them out of our lives. When it comes to sin, we weren't meant to simply play defense.
So what does that look like? It starts with removing temptation. Don't sit back and wait until a specific struggle presents itself to deal with it--go after it in the name of Jesus and send that sucker back where it came from!
"But immorality or any impurity or greed must mot even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks." - Ephesians 5:3-4
I used to have it in my head that this verse was going a little overboard. But let's be real: it's the Word of God, and what He says goes. I know it seems a little ridiculous, especially considering the world we live in; but when I think about how badly I want to pursue a life of holiness in EVERYTHING I do, say, think, and project...it's suddenly not ridiculous at all. If I truly want my heart to match God's, I can't make exceptions. That means watching what I say and being careful of the jokes I make and/or laugh at. It means not being sarcastic, but making an effort to let every word be edifying. I want people to look at me and see Jesus always, not just when I'm thinking about it.
Once again, we're not playing defense here:
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." - Philippians 4:8
That's a pretty long list of qualifications for our thoughts. And we are called to dwell on these thoughts. To ponder, meditate, mull over, analyze, question, discuss, read, memorize,think, speak and live these thoughts. It's not always easy or even natural, but it's absolutely attainable. With time, it can and should become a wonderful habit. And really, how can we honestly say that we are pursuing holiness if we aren't actually making the effort?
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