“Holiness Begins in the Heart: How Sin Takes Root” September 2
Most of us think of holiness primarily in terms of what we do or don’t do. But God’s standard goes much deeper. He is concerned about what is happening in our hearts long before anyone else can see it.
That means the thoughts we entertain matter.
We may tell ourselves, I’m only thinking about it. I’d never actually do it. But Scripture warns us that the thoughts and desires we allow to take root can eventually control us.
In the book of James, God gives us two powerful pictures of how temptation and sin work. One comes from fishing and the other from conception and birth. Together, they show us how our desires can lure us toward sin and how thoughts that seem harmless can be fed and nurtured until they eventually produce something destructive.
The sinful thoughts we believe we can handle may eventually end up handling us.
So, how do we stop that process before temptation gets its hook into us? And how can we pursue the kind of holiness that begins in the heart?
We’ll also look at how God says we should respond when someone who has hurt us falls and why spiritual gifts were never intended to make us feel important or superior to other believers.
