To understand the totality of a thing, it is necessary to be able to see the inverse of it.
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1st Cor. 10:31)
To be able to obey this verse and others like it in the Scriptures with a willing heart, the inverse, in part, of it must also be comprehended and obeyed, and only these few words need to be modified in it.
“In all that you do not do…”
In part, the Holy Spirit through Paul said it thusly, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1st Cor. 9:27)
Along with “For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18)
The mind that serves Christ is willing in all things to glorify the Living God in our lives, the flesh, our old sinful nature rebels against those inverted, additional words of “In all that you do not do.”
The lust of the flesh desires to do all those things, perform those acts, say those words that do not bring glory to our Father in heaven, the eyes look longingly at that which only a glance should have warned us to turn away from, the rewards of this world can do nothing for us but tempt us to pride.
We do all that we do for the glory of God my friends, which also means that for His glory there are things that we do not do.
This is the personal battle we fight within ourselves each day, and do not think that it is only your flesh, you have a mind within you that is quite capable of sinning even when you are alone, when there are no outside influences upon you, even when you have your eyes closed. It is called your imagination, and if you do not attempt to keep it reigned in, then you will be doing what you are not to do.
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28)
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5)
To not do what we want to do, and yes, your flesh is you, it is not Satan attacking you, it is you, is to glorify the Lord God by denying ourselves that which we know is despicable in His sight. Whether it becomes a sin or not depends on that second glance and how long it lasts, how long you let your imagination wander down that bunny trail, and you will know if it has gone too far, for at the end of that trail is a hole.
You need no assistance from our adversary in this regard, you know that, he is not standing there whispering in your ear forcing you to have those thoughts, he has not grabbed your head and turned it in that direction, he did not force you to accept those gifts and accolades that you knew would cause a seed of pride to grow in your heart.
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)
When we do not do, by our own free will, that which will not bring glory to God, we are fighting the battle, we are fighting against ourselves, that part that will not be removed until we are glorified, and personally my friends, this is the most difficult battle I have ever been in.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1st John 1:8)
Truth, but the one who understands this short letter understands and can recognize those sins when they arrive, and by the grace of God and the power and assistance of the Holy Spirit, He will give you something else to look at, something else to think about, the ability to understand the difference between the worker being worthy of his wages and the pride that can assail us from the recognitions of this world.
Recognizing you should not do something is the beginning of this battle.
