Paul gives us a list of sins in Galatians 5: 19-21. In the last devotion, we talked about sexual sins. In this devotion, we will discuss moral sins, such as the seven deadly sins, dissension, hatred, jealousy, and selfish ambitions.
Nuggets
- Instead of thanking Him and acknowledging His goodness, we puff ourselves up and think we did it all by ourselves.
- When we desire/lust for something, we aren’t content with what God has given us or desire things for the wrong reasons.
- Gluttony is talking excess.
- Disciples are called to be the opposite of slothful people – we are called to be self-disciplined.
- Anger can be a sin when we violate the commandments to love others.
- Hatred can bring out violence, which God detests.
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In the last devotion, we started talking about works of the flesh. In this devotion, we are going to look at moral sins.
Moral Sins
When we talk about moral sins, we generally are talking about the seven deadly sins. These are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. What put them on this list was that they speak to excesses and evolve into other sins as well.
Galatians 5: 19-21 specifically lists several that I think fall under this category. “… moral impurity, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar” (Gal. 5: 19-21 CSB)
Moral Impurity
We’re going to talk about pride, lust, gluttony, and sloth here. I know we talked about sexual lust. This is non-sexual lust.
Pride
Most of us have a pretty good handle on what the definition of pride is: “undue confidence in and attention to one’s own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position.”
Now, don’t get me wrong. We have to have confidence in ourselves and our abilities. The problem is when it becomes undue confidence. The Bible talks about two conditions that take it over the top: boasting and arrogance.
First John 2: 16 says, “For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world” (CSB). When we take pride in our possessions, we tend to forget that it wasn’t because of our abilities that we have them.
What we have is a gift from God. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jas. 1: 17 CSB).
But instead of thanking Him and acknowledging His goodness, we puff ourselves up and think we did it all by ourselves. We start telling everyone who will listen how good we are.
The arrogance comes out when “… people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred” (II Tim. 3: 2 NLT).
Lust
We talked in the last devotion that lust was translated a couple of devotions ago as desires.
We can easily see where that can be something other than sexual lust. We can desire an expensive car, a mansion, or a prestigious job among other things.
No, just wanting them isn’t bad. It can become a sin a couple of different ways.
The first way is when we aren’t content with what God has given us. We have to be like Paul. He “… learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil. 4: 11 NIV).
The second way it becomes a sin is when we desire it for the wrong reasons. If we want it to just “keep up with the Jones,” we are focusing more on the world than on God.
Gluttony
Most of us probably know that gluttony is defined as “… greedy and voracious eating.” Did you know it is also “… associated with stubbornness, rebellion, disobedience, drunkenness, and wastefulness (Deut. 21: 20)”?
I can see where we can be greedy and voracious in things beyond just eating. This is talking excess again. Pride could be described as excess confidence. Lust can be said to be excessive desires.
Sloth
A slothful person is “a loose, undisciplined person” (Holman Bible Dictionary). Disciples are called to be the opposite of slothful people – we are called to be self-disciplined.
Some would consider the “… drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar” (Gal. 5: 21 CSB) fits under the undisciplined. There are others, also, such as liars and cheaters.
Starke points out that this is not talking about just taking a drink. It is drinking to the point where we we are no longer in control of our bodies.
Dissensions
Strife is “bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). That takes out two more words of the list. Strife causes anger.
Factions is where there is “a party or group (as within a government) that is often contentious or self-seeking” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
We are not called to be contentious. We are called to be unified. We just talked about this — a lot — when we walked through Ephesians.
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Not only are we called to settle our difference amicably, but we are also called to put God’s Will first, not our own selfish desires.
Hatred of Man
I am kind of surprised Paul puts this one in and then goes on to identify some of the hatreds in the list. You would think the anger and envy would be under here instead of separate. So, we are going to look at them here.
Anger is another word for wrath. We’ve talked about the wrath of God before.
This, however, is man’s wrath. Holman Bible Dictionary defined wrath as “The emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice, often translated ‘anger,’ ‘indignation,’ ‘vexation,’ and ‘irritation.’”
Anger can be a sin when we violate the commandments to love others. We are to love one another (Jn. 13: 34; Rom. 13: 8; I Pet. 3: 8-9; I Pet. 4: 8; I Jn. 4: 12-13); love our neighbors as ourselves (Lev. 19: 18); and love earnestly (I Jn. 3: 18; Eph. 4: 2-3).
Yes, Jesus showed anger when He cleaned out the Temple (Mt. 21: 12-17). He had a right to be angry when His Father’s house was defiled. We tend to forget Jesus was angry at the Pharisees when they thought He shouldn’t heal in the Sabbath (Mark 3:5).
But this is talking about when anger slides into hatred. That would mean it is unresolved.
Envy can also slide into anger. It is a two-parter. Envy is “a painful or resentful awareness of another’s advantage joined with the desire to possess the same advantage
It isn’t just I-see-you-have-this-and-I-don’t. It’s I-see-you-have-this-and-I-want-it-too.
This could be breaking the 10th commandment. “Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Ex. 20: 17 CSB).
Hatred can bring out violence, which God detests (Ps. 5: 6). It can also bring out the desire for revenge (Rom. 12: 19).
We can sin when our anger is directed wrong or is just plain wrong. Also, if we’ve overreacted, we may be sinning.
Jealousy
Jealousy occurs when we feel have to guard a possession (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). We think we are going to lose something. That really makes us insecure.
First Corinthians 3: 2-3 says, “I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” NLT).
It is this comparison with others where we feel lacking that ignite the quarrels. We feel lacking, so we believe we will not be able to retain something that is important to us.
The sin is when we cut down our value. Don’t we know we are made in God’s image (Gen. 1: 26)? Can’t we tell that we are “… fearfully and wonderfully made …” (Ps. 139: 14 NIV)?
But we cut ourselves down … and think there is no way God is going to provide what He promised. God is not going to love us and care for us.
Wrong. God loves us. How could He not when we see that He has given His Son Whom He loves to die so that our relationships may be restored?
Selfish ambitions
Ambition is “an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Don’t get me wrong.
Wanting to better yourself is not wrong. We should seek God to better ourselves so that we are the persons He is calling us to be.
The sin kicks in when we are selfishly ambition. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves” (Phil. 2: 3 CSB).
That could be when we are seeking to show our skills and knowledge to others. We could think we are so much better than others.
We get back to the it-is-us mindset, not it-is-God reliance. Yes, that gets us back to the pride and arrogance attitudes.
Making the Connections
It seems like, in a lot of these these sins, we are putting our wants and desires over God’s will for our lives. We puff up our estimation of our knowledge and skills. We make decisions for us lives based on our own criteria.
How Do We Apply This?
We need to learn to submit to God. My Ladies and I were just talking about that when we had the lesson on Numbers 32.
How do we submit to God? We have to humbly obey Him. I hadn’t realized it was a military term. We have to obey our Commander’s orders.
It boils down to it being a choice that we make. Are we going to give God control of our lives? Or are we going to keep it for ourselves?
Keeping control for ourselves carries stiff consequences. Hopefully, everyone is well aware when they make that decision — or choose to make no decision at all. No decision is the same as choosing against God.
In the next devotion, we will look at sins against God.
Father. You call us to be men and women possessing Your character. Help us to live our lives the way You would have them lived. Amen.
What do you think?
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