“You have heard that it was said to those of old ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27,28)
COMMENT: When Jimmy Carter became President in 1976, he made a statement I found to be weird and extremely funny; he talked about sinning by lusting after women. I had a big laugh at his expense and I’m sure I had plenty company. After becoming a Christian, I was dumbfounded to find out that there was scripture to back up his statement. We can sin with our thoughts. At first I didn’t think that it was fair, it seemed to me that only overt actions should qualify as sins. However, since then the Lord has opened my eyes wider. Our mind is where all the action is; it’s the spiritual battleground. If the devil can get us to continually concentrate on some particular sin, it won’t be long before that sinful seed that has been planted will make its grand appearance in the natural. I believe that this is the reason God wants us to be immediately alert to sinful thoughts, repent of them and ask for forgiveness.
Philippians 4:8 gives us some great advice: “. . . . .whatever things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and are of good report, if there is any virtue and if anything is praiseworthy–meditate on these things.”
SCRIPTURE STUDY: Proverbs 6:25, 2 Cor.10:5 and 1 John 3:15
WISE SAYING: GIVE THE DEVIL AN INCH AND HE’LL BE A RULER.
