My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:13 (NIV)

Like a virus that needs a host before it can infect an animal or plant, evil is not transmitted without a host. It needs body before being incubated and then shots up to infect others too. The sense organs of the body have been primarily given for the sake of using them as “members for righteousness.” But the same members which God has detailed for the purpose of worship can also be corrupted and used for evil. Take for example the hand that is used for taking that which is not rightly ours; or the feet that runs into the house of whore or a party, or the brain that is used to spread filth in philosophy and pornography; or the eyes and the ears that is used to catch up the next gossip in town and the mouth that is used to spread lies.

What God designed to be used for righteousness can be obliterated when our hearts are not right with Him. Thus we were advised to be careful with what our eyes see and what our ears hear because with what we have, more will be given. If we feed our brain with filth, then that is what we will be growing into. A nation is only good up to the next individual. If the best individual we could present is one that daily feeds his mind with useless chatter and idle babblings, then it does say much what our nation is made of. But if we daily grow in faith, feed it with the Word of God by hearing and hearing taped sermons or songs of praise and adoration, and then it will not be long to see a transformed Philippines. There is no bondage greater than allowing evil to persist in the society. We are only as good as our individual units.

Let’s identify how evil can be transmitted by the eyes, the ears, the tongue, and the hands and feet and how we can rectify such situation so that all the members of our body can be used to glorify the Lord. We are told that by understanding the Lord established the heavens (Proverbs 3:19) and by understanding we gain wisdom, and find good (Proverbs 1:5; 19:8) and by understanding we can wage a good warfare (Proverbs 20:18). Therefore it is essential that if we be overcomers, we should not be ignorant of the ways of the devil, of how he gains the upper hand against us. Otherwise we will continue to stumble on areas that we do not know he has already controlled us.

The senses and their usage

We have been given five main sensory organs in the body such as the eyes which is for seeing, the nose for smelling, the ears for hearing and the mouth for tasting. While all of these have different feedback mechanisms, the other two, the hands and feet are mainly for performing actions that are then dictated by what the mind decides to do.Struggles against the senses are usually fought better by fleeing rather than by direct conflict. As Joseph fought the seductress by standing for piety and virtue and then by fleeing from her when she tried entice him, we can do no better than this wisdom which he had demonstrated for us.

If we already know that men have fallen away from God by going away into bars, motels, disco pubs and porn houses and harlots, why then should we still go there? This is folly. Just as it is easier to overcome and fight an enemy outside the city gates, lest he disturbed the whole city by the wars he fight, let us not allow Satan to build his nests upon our heads. We are told that we should no longer present the members or parts of our “body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather [to] offer ourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of our body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13 NIV). Once we allow the entrance of sin through the members of our bodies, it is harder to fight and overcome it. But once we recognize this, we should resist it, and overcome.

Remember that Paul writes we have to ponder things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and those of good repute anything that have excellence in them that is worthy of praise, we have to dwell on these things (see Philippians 4:8). If your conscience blushes before God because of the admission of sin, have recourse with penitence, repent and stay away from all occasions that could cause you to fall into sin again. Stay away from corrupt friends, for the honorable can be easily tainted by the dishonorable. Dare to engage the help of others, your friends who can cover you and correct you when needed including checking about your sexual purity.

Men and women primarily differs in how they interpret the world around them but both use their senses in similar ways, one may not be primarily controlled by his eyes but by what she feels or hears but both are affected by the same temptations placed upon them. As the Lord has sent us to the world, not for licentiousness but to grow in virtue, piety and wisdom, it is His will that we grow thereby in truth and holiness. Therefore, as much as possible, “do not present your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, [but] now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification” (see Romans 6:19).

For no one can be transformed in this world without his mind being renewed through reading and hearing the Word of God and the words of His messengers. Just as we behold ourselves in a mirror daily and check whether there are stains in our dress, the Word of God is a mirror to reflect upon the virtues in this life, to cleanse us from the stains of sin. Living a fruitful and Spirit filled life is not only possible but it is the only Way for those who choose to become His first fruits to righteousness. It is not only important that we understand how sin enters through man and dispossess him of godly virtues but also how to build a strong inner life that can combat all of these ungodly deeds unleashed by hell on many unsuspecting people. One such map that shows us exactly how we can manage our daily affairs with wisdom is found in the book of Proverbs. This book tells us that it was set for the young man to find wisdom and discretion and attain to wise counsels and a means to avoid the enticement of sinners. Let us hear about the matter.

Walking in God’s favor

“There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” Prov­erbs 6:16-19

To walk in God’s favor there are some basic things we need to understand, and that is, those who truly love God will seek to do pleasing things in His eyes. In contrast, those who are displeasing to God are those who deliberately act otherwise, not seeking the will of God or the things that would please Him. Just as we are called to walk with Him from the very beginning, it is also God’s will to show us how we can actually achieve this. To simply say ‘I love you Jesus’ but lacks the true deeds of love is hypocritical not just to men but even before heaven. Before we say ‘I love you Jesus’, we need to examine our deeds, we need the search light of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to our hearts and show our falsehoods.

This is why those who seek the Lord must understand His ways or the things which pleases Him and those things which displease Him for God has, “made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him” (Ephesians 1:9). That is, we are to seek to do those things that are pleasing to God, “For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it!  Because of this light within you, you should do only what is good and right and true. Learn as you go along what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead, rebuke and expose them” (Ephesians 5:8-11 TLB). In the above verses, Solomon outlines seven things which are not only sins but an abomination before God.

The word abomination is only used in the Scriptures to de­scribe certain sins that are especially repugnant to God. The writer arrests our attention by first telling us that there are six things which God hates, and seven which are an abomi­nation to Him. Let’s examine them one by one so that we can gain a better perspective of walking with the Lord, pleasing to His sight.

1. A proud look

Pride is the sin of man. It starts with the thought that we can do all things without the need for God. It is an exalted eyes, one that looks down condescendingly to others. No own can really do things on his own, even the Prophet Noah needed the help and encouragement of his wife as well as his sons to finish the Ark and carry mankind through the flood. Even Daniel has to enlist his friends in order to seek the will of God concerning the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. Do not think for one moment that you are sufficient in yourself, above the agencies employed by God to touch your heart and guide you into His perfect will. There once was a woman who full of piety, prayerful as Anna the prophetess and even predicted many storms and deluge coming upon her province. When finally a storm surge occurred and flooded her village, all her neighbors were crying out to her to come out and run to the higher ground. She curtly replied that her God would take care of her and the flood will soon stop. As this woman kept kneel­ing and praying before God to stop the rain and the storm, another woman came to her and her to run with her away into the mountains.

But she refused. The flood by this time had reach her waist deep. Then a rubber boat by the rescue team of the Mayor in the village came out seeking those who are still remaining in their houses. “Lola Maria, Lola Maria, lumabas ka na,” they cried out in vernacular but she again refused. Then the chopper of the journalists covering the fl ash flood in the village came again, and by this time, she is at the roof still kneeling and praying to God. “Come up here,” said they but she again denied them the pleasure of helping her. Finally a loud crackling noise thundered through the village and they knew that the dam was broken. Now Maria entered heaven’s gate, and Jesus met with her. She asked, “Lord, why did you not stop the rain and the storms to save me?” Then with a look of astonishment in His eyes, and a smile in His face, the Lord told her, “As a matter of fact, I did three times.” There are many Christians in this world like Lola Maria, they pray and go to church but they seldom try to hear the voice of God through the agencies He chooses to employ. Let us not harden our hearts but be discerning how our prayers are answered by the Lord. Too much spiri­tuality without discernment can end our lives too soon.

2. A lying tongue

Have you tried speaking lies to others because you hate to see them? Or lied to your parents because you feared their retribution? Lies can start small but no sooner have your started counting and you see them piling up. Lies first started in heaven when Lucifer, a smooth talker, was able to convince a third of the angels of God to rebel against Him. A rebel could not be easily persuaded to join the ranks un­less one has been convicted to win the war. How did it hap­pen? The fall of the angels broke the heart of God because those who chose to follow the path of Lucifer did so out of full participation in rebellion against Him. They were so convinced that they can actually defeat God with Lucifer at the helm of this army. But the Bible says, they lost their first estate and fell from heaven like lightning into the earth.

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, saying,’ is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’’ Isaiah 14:12-17

It first started with the thought that Lucifer who is also called Satan said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will as­cend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” This thought, “I will” have characterized almost every fall since. It was a deliberate act, Satan thought that he can actually defeat God by enlisting the help of his cohorts. Just as he lied to Adam and Eve by telling them that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil will make them like God knowing both good and evil. He spoke to the angels, con­vinced them of rebellion, spread false report and said, “God does not care for you anymore, He is planning to make hu­man beings who will inhabit the earth and where He will walk with them. If you will make me your king in the assem­bly of God, I promise you better rewards and position than where you are right now.”

No wonder Jesus spoke of the devil as a father of lies, a murderer from the very beginning. Speaking to the Jews He said, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). A lying tongue bends the truth so be careful with what you speak, whether it is half truth or white lie because this can also lead to the demise of others. As children of light, we are to no longer hold on such practices but speaking the truth from a sincere and pure heart, “Stop lying to each other; tell the truth, for we are parts of each other and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves” (Ephesians 4:25 TLB).

3. Hands that shed innocent blood

Hands that shed innocent blood do not only speak of murder or killing others through gang wars or frat wars. More than these, it is also on partaking on acts of wickedness such as ‘preying on other Christians,’ speaking lies, creating and spreading falsehoods about a preacher, pastor or broth­er or sister. To kill somebody does not have to only mean literal murder but acts like cultivating evil against another person or ministry because of envy is literally trying to mur­der that person or ministry; staged sabotages like what hap­pened to the dynamic and powerful healing preacher A.A. Alen is one example. If we envy each other because the other person is more anointed, more gifted and shooting up like the stars of heaven, then we indeed will destroy each other. We are aborting the seed that God wants deposited in us, in our generation and in the Church if we continually al­low strife and envy to gain the upper hand.

We must stop this folly and not give place to the devil; let us stop heap­ing empty words upon one another. Paul writes, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one an­other. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one an­other!” (Galatians 5:13-15 NKJV).True love is proven by service, and if another person comes with greater anointing than us, more gifts and minis­tries, let us welcome our brother because his fruits will also be our fruits if we support and help him. It is not the donkey that is important, it is Jesus who is riding that donkey that is more important and the message he brings to us.

4. A heart that devises wicked plans

“The heart is wicked above all things,” said the prophet Jeremiah, every vain imagination that our hearts fabricates will only build one upon the another until it completes the superstructure of iniquity. There are people who are given to this kind of work, motivated by survival and the evil that is around them; they continually think how to make others stumble. If you are such a person, then you must stop your evil deeds and repent. Every thought that we sow, every plan that we think to do evil upon our neighbor is like sowing seeds of destruc­tion upon ourselves and our families. Eventually, these seeds of destruction when full will be emptied and poured to us.

It may not come during our time but evil will not depart from the house of a person given to this job. Take Ahab for example, who out of greediness took possession of the vine­yard of Naboth; the only possession of the righteous man. Because of this, the Lord promised them destruction until his entire house perished from the throne of Israel.

“Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah.” So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.” 2 Kings 10:10-11

Those who participate in wicked schemes shall also fall into diverse traps. Read the following advice and be wise to choose to walk in the path of life, “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body. (Proverbs 4:14-22). Another translation for espousing wicked plans is to become a schemer, one who is crafty.

To be crafty is to be able to bend the rules and get away with the consequences of our action. Craftiness came into the Garden of Eden when the devil poisoned the mind of Eve. He came in the skin of a serpent, and then tricked the woman into disobeying the Lord. Because of disobedience, sin entered the world and gave a legal foothold for the devil to persecute and torment mankind. Our only deliverance from craftiness is to be an­chored in love and truth.

Truth is the greatest commodity on earth; we cannot just allow others to trample the truth, bring injustice and propagate lies without us doing anything to defend the truth. If we love the truth, we need to walk above all in the truth, examining everything in the light of the Scriptures whether they are so. Failure to do this could cost us our inheritance just as Esau traded his birthright for the sake of a bowl of stew, esteeming his bodily needs over his spiritual inheritance.

5. Feet that are swift in running to evil

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:11-13). What does it mean to be swift in run­ning to evil? This is no other than resorting to do evil when the opportunity to do so affords us. For example, almost every home and individuals nowadays have their own mo­bile phones and laptops that are always connected with the internet, the opportunity to use this technology for good is present as well as to abuse it.

Some people are using this technology for piracy; others to cheat your money through frauds and more oft en than not, prostitutes have clandestinely made their own websites too. Almost every individual who fell into sin did not do it in one day. It happened little by little until their defenses have been eroded away. Then the arrows of temptation can no longer be resisted and the person is swept away by his lust.

Others who have been involved into drugs, cigars and alco­hol thought that just one curious try wouldn’t be bad, after all no one is looking after them. Then when one satchet, one stick and one bottle seem to taste like a sparkling new wine, one good for the eyes and seem good for the body too has not become enough, the door flung wide open for the cycle of bondage to begin. We have to guard our hearts, our lips and our eyes so that we will not be captured by the snares of the devil. As Solomon had once written, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:23-27). If we want purity and ho­liness to adorn our lives, then we must deliberately act on it.

No one will be holy just by wishing to be so; you need to take action, place the barriers needed and keep your feet away from the house of the harlot, the drug addict, and the parlor or the salon. Run instead into the house of God, the house of prayer where the flesh is crucified and the mind is renewed.  There is no way you can be holy if you allow bad company to surround you. Walking in holiness is not a ran­dom act, one must commit himself and be ready to sacrifice the things that can impede him to achieving this goal.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16

6. A false witness who speaks lies

Have you experience covering up the evil deeds of your son or daughter? Did you mislead the law enforcers when they were looking for evidence of your son’s whereabouts? Or have you been hiding the real taxes worth of your prop­erties, groceries and merchandise? The value we give to our words and actions have a proportional effect to how com­mitted we are in our walk with the Lord. God hates false­hood, and so are those who cheat others in their business dealings.

The person who is usually given to speaking lies and falsehoods could in fact be easily bought with money. Our greed for more can also cause us to speak lies and give false testimonies to others that we envy. Obviously this is not the only meaning of a false witness, it is also writing untrue re­ports about our bank accounts, bank books and book ac­counts of our stores, groceries, and other types of businesses. Let me illustrate it better, one time while I was attend­ing an educational materials bid at the Department of Education in our province, it stunned me to find out that those bidders who came had all but balanced all their ac­counts so that they produced a report with a net zero ac­count! That’s insidiously incredulous, given the time that these merchants should have profited in a given year. Nobody can believe such report but the bid went on for lack of other bidders who came for the bidding.

This incredible account does tell us about a lot of things in the islands and the people behind such clandestine activi­ties. If we don’t pay our taxes right, and are reticent to pro­vide official receipts to our customers, it just shows where our hearts are really. We are not only being crafty, we are also found as false witnesses, producing reports that are untrue by the books. This is replicated wherever there are weak leaders, weak tax collectors and influential businessmen. No wonder the GNI coefficient of the Philippines is very high, wealth is not distributed properly because those who profit don’t want to share what they have to those who are in need. This has something to do with transparency, while we throw a lot of fist sized questions and accusations towards our government, we indulge in the comforts of our rooms and villas gained from unreported profits.

Therefore corrup­tion in the government is just a mirror of how corrupt most business deals are in the government. A government or a nation is only as good as its individuals. If you expect this to change, it must begin with us, paying the right taxes and reporting what is true before the tax collectors. Where does this leave us? Begin speaking right to your neighbor and above all, contribute towards the development of your community. Give to those who are in need when it is in your power to do so.

7. One who sows discord among brethren

Dissensions and strifes are produced whenever there is envy among brethren, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing” (James 3:16).One can spread strife or discord without necessarily speaking lies or coveting another thing, it can happen just by telling the truth, the hard truth without love. It can be true that you are always sacrificing for your family, paying for the bills, wash­ing dishes, buying groceries etc but if you use this exalted position to clubber the head of others, won’t you be hurting them? There is a right way of saying the truth, that is speak it out of love and not out of anger or frustration. Most dis­cord, disagreements, disunity and division do not happen by chance but it occurs when we allow anger, frustration, envy and self-seeking to trouble us. Most men’s disposition are calm even when they have problems except if we begin to disturb their peace and malign them through lies and mis­representations. How do discords occur in our day to day work and in the ministry?

Leadership in a ministry falls to the senior pastor or elder, they give the final decision over everything that is brought to them by the members. Sometimes they delegate this authority when they are absent to the associate pastor or the next elder. It is obvious that if we lack this proper leader­ship structure, there would be chaos in how the church can properly respond to anything that the members bring before them. Peter and the Apostles recognized this need in the church especially when the Grecian Jews and the Hebrew women were quarrelling about who will take care of their widows (see Acts 6:1-4).

As the number of disciples in­creased from 120 in the upper room to 3000 during Peter’s sermon to the increasing multitude, the leaders were hard-pressed in meeting all the needs of the diverse array of dis­ciples. To solve this problem, they all agreed to find men of good reputation, Spirit-filled and wise leaders whom they could appoint to serve these various positions or ministries. “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.  So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:1-4)

This has the effect of  easing out the tension and allow­ing the Apostles to focus where they are best at, to read and divide the Word of God correctly and lead in prayer meet­ings. Because this was so successful, soon even the pagan governments tried to employ this type of governance such as employing not just ambassadors to different nations but also ministers in other capacities, e.g. food distribution, agricul­ture secretary, housing sector and peace and order minister. Here we find that discords started when one need was not being met, that is the Grecian Jews felt discriminated over by the Hebrews during food distribution. If the Apostles re­mained blind to this need, it is apparent that the church in its infancy could not have survived to our time. Are there needs and requirements in your job that you continue to neglect? Or are there needs in your relationship right now that you continue to ignore?  Ponder it for a moment and be ready to repent.

Another instance of discord in the New Covenant hap­pened among the Corinthian believers, they were so good at comparing Peter, Apollos and Paul so that the Apostle had to rebuke them in their folly, saying,  “Dear brothers, I beg you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be splits in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some of those who live at Chloe’s house have told me of your arguments and quarrels, dear brothers. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul”; and others say that they are for Apollos or for Peter; and some that they alone are the true followers of Christ. And so, in ef­fect, you have broken Christ into many pieces. But did I, Paul, die for your sins? Were any of you baptized in my name?” (1 Corinthians 1:10-13 TLB). Comparing leaders and our­selves can start divisions anywhere, some who are so used to the preaching of their senior pastor could easily dislike and reject the Word of God through their associate or other elders.

This is the danger of missing the mark, we become so cozy at the preaching of one preacher or writer that we tend to think God can only speak through this person. If you do, think again, and find others through whom God can speak His words. Do not become comfortable to the style of one writer or to the ways of one pastor. Learn from others too and you will find that God can indeed speak through others apart from your favorite preacher or writer.

As the Apostle Paul had said, we are still carnal when we allow divisions to exists among us by comparing each other.  “For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3). “Everyone keeps telling me about the arguing that goes on in these meetings, and the divisions developing among you, and I can just about believe it” (1 Corin­thians 11:18 TLB).