Mark 7, " 'These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."... He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"
How easily it would be to pick out the sexual sin in this passage. Sexual sin is hitting our world so hard right now. Pornography, Internet, TV, adultery, movies, books, the list goes on and on. All of us are bombarded with the lusts of the flesh. I know, I have been right in the big middle of it all. However, that is not what is in my heart at this moment. I want to focus on the other things that may easily be over looked, for they don't seem as "big" of a sin to us and they are easily discarded. Evil thoughts, greed, malice (backstabbing, bitterness, cattiness, vindictiveness, animosity) deceit, envy, slander arrogance and folly (ridiculous ideas, dottiness, dumb thing to do, recklessness) are all listed right there with sexual sin. So, they must be just as "bad" of a sin as sexual sin.
Can you find yourself in this list of sins? I can. If we live out our life as a fool, we are living in sin. Do you ever have an evil thought? That is as bad as pornography. Do you ever hold on to bitterness? That is as bad adultery. Are you envious of someone else? That is as bad as deceit. What are you holding on to that you think is not as bad as theirs? That is why the scriptures say, "We have all fallen short of the glory of God." None of us are good enough. We all struggle with something, every day. I need grace and forgiveness, every day. Everyone does! The hard part is getting our own sin out of our heart, so that we can forgive someone else for theirs. Don't get me wrong. We need to call sin, sin. But, when we have seen our sin for what it really is, we expect others to show us grace and compassion. So when others see their sin for what it is, why is it so hard for us to forgive and show them compassion?
Sexual sin is bad, for it hurts others around us who are also involved with our lives. It hurts the temple of God and tears down trust others have allowed us to enjoy. Bitterness and unforgiveness, tear down the heart that God wants us to keep for Him. Pornography tears at your wife's self-esteem and destroys the image she has of herself. It comes in and rips your sexual fulfillment apart. Evil thoughts and vindictiveness come in and tear down your husbands self worth. They destroy the very thing God has told you to have for him, and that is respect. Malice comes in and destroys friendships. It causes us to hold on to unforgiveness for others, those we should accept as friends. All of these are "big" sins, for they destroy our relationship with others and harden our hearts toward God.
Oswald Chambers, "Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions?" Really nothing anyone else does or has done, matters. What I am doing and where my heart is, that is all that matters. Have you hit your knees, begging God to change your heart? Have you asked for His forgiveness? Where are you, with your walk with God?
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/08/22/devotion.aspx?year=2009
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