Welcome to the
Marriage Builders® Discussion Forum

This is a community where people come in search of marriage related support, answers, or encouragement. Also, information about the Marriage Builders principles can be found in the books available for sale in the Marriage Builders® Bookstore.
If you would like to join our guidance forum, please read the Announcement Forum for instructions, rules, & guidelines.
The members of this community are peers and not professionals. Professional coaching is available by clicking on the link titled Coaching Center at the top of this page.
We trust that you will find the Marriage Builders® Discussion Forum to be a helpful resource for you. We look forward to your participation.
Once you have reviewed all the FAQ, tech support and announcement information, if you still have problems that are not addressed, please e-mail the administrators at mbrestored@gmail.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3
#2528749 07/17/11 07:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Just musing ...... About sin.


Sin will take you further than you want to go.
Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay.
Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.

Sin is pleasurable, for a season.

"Sin in it's ordinary progression first deceives, next hardens, and then destroys." - John Thornton

"It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man." - Albert Einstein




Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Sin is erosive.

"Now, men think, with regard to their conduct, that if they were to lift themselves up gigantically and commit some crashing sin, they should never be able to hold up their heads; but they will harbor in their souls little sins, which are piercing and eating them away to inevitable ruin." - Henry Ward Beecher

Sin is a termite infestation of the soul.

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to it's vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.


Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
"Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it is hurtful." - Benjamin Franklin

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
"If you have sinned do not lie down without repentance; for the want of repentance after one has sinned makes the heart yet harder." - John Bunyan

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
"Men are willing to admit that they are sinners, but not that they are sinning." - Ivan Panin

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
"We can recognize evil in others, but if we wish to look on the face of sin, we will see it most clearly in ourselves." - Henry Fairlie

Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 12,357
M
Member
Offline
Member
M
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 12,357
Been thinking much about sin today, Pep?

dance2


D-Day 2-10-2009
Fully Recovered and Better Than Ever!
Thank you Marriage Builders!

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Originally Posted by maritalbliss
Been thinking much about sin today, Pep?

dance2

This was a direct result of church service yesterday .... just thinking about stuff.

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Originally Posted by Pepperband
"Sin in it's ordinary progression first deceives, next hardens, and then destroys." - John Thornton

Thinking about this quote in the context of a wayward mind ....

1. Deception.
We talk about wayward "fog", which is verbal expression of the self deception that goes on in a wayward mind. Deception which allows a so called "normal" person to commit adultery. "The enemy" is the ultimate liar. What deception does is this, deception makes swallowing a deadly poison seem like a desirable choice. This is the point in adultery where the waywards telling themselves lies might be shocked into reality by exposure. perhaps not, but it is possible. Truth & light are kryptonite to the deception. I am talking about the wayward losing his/her mind.

2. Hardening.
Now, about the wayward's heart. It hardens. The wayward heart becomes callous. The wayward heart becomes closed off and insensitive to the pain and devastation their adultery causes. The wayward can even accept the broken hearts of their own children if that pain supports their adultery. The wayward becomes impervious to empathy. Cry all you want, your tears have no meaning for the hardened heart of a lost wayward. Your tears, your pain only annoy the hardened wayward heart.


3. Destruction.
And finally, the wayward's soul. The sin of adultery destroys the wayward's soul. The spiritual essence of humanity is nowhere to be found in the wayward. Integrity has been cast off in order for the adultery to continue. The wayward does not go on his/her merry way unscathed. The wayward is the most wounded of all. The destruction of a once beautiful soul, now made ugly by sin, is heartbreaking.


There is a progression to this loss.
Humans are vulnerable to temptation.
Temptation feels good.
But, giving into the sin, and living in the sin is life changing.
Soul changing.

We can actually SEE it sometimes.
We can actually SEE the cold eyes of the hardened heart.
We can actually SEE the lifeless eyes of the soulless.


Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 987
V
Member
Offline
Member
V
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 987
Excellent - and sobering, to say it mildly - post, Pep. Thank you for your musings.


Me - 30 (FWW)
H - 30 (BH)
DSx2
D-day: 2008
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,316
M
Member
Offline
Member
M
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,316
Excellent thread, Pep!

Here are some scriptures that this topic brings to mind:

Quote
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)

Quote
When tempted, no one should say, �God is tempting me.� For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:13-15(NIV)

Mrs. W


FWW ~ 47 ~ Me
FBH ~ 50 ~ MrWondering
DD ~ 17
Dday ~ 2005 ~ Recovered

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Thanks for adding to this thread Mrs W.

Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,870
C
Member
Offline
Member
C
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,870
This is excellent

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Originally Posted by MrsWondering
But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

I watched the TV interview of Jaycee Lee Dugard.
When they showed photos of her 2 captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, I was struck by the darkness in their eyes.

Jaycee has a light/life in her eyes, despite what happened to her.

Her captors are both dead souls.
Frightening to look at them.






Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,589
A
Member
Offline
Member
A
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,589
Today, my husband has bright, sparkly eyes. When he was in the middle of the affair and the fog that lasted so long after D-day, his eyes were dead and shark-like. And most strangely, there was one time when I smelled "death" on his breath. Right after d-day, H described himself as being lost in a woods with many paths to follow and a voice that called to him. After the false recovery when he contacted OW, he described the feeling as "being adrift in the ocean". He shudders at that time now. Thankfully, there is God's power to repent, change and seek forgiveness.

AM


BW - 70
WH - 65
M - 35 years
D-day - 17 Apr 08
H broke contact 11/1/09
Back in love after the worst thing that every happened to us.
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Originally Posted by armymama
Today, my husband has bright, sparkly eyes.

And, I'm sure he sleeps better too.

kiss

Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,025
M
Member
Offline
Member
M
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,025
Hope you don't mind me participating too. wink I was actually looking for the bible study video associated with one of my favorite songs, Slow Fade by the Casting Crowns, that I posted before when I stumbled upon this facebook entry:

Psalm 1 is one of those passages that we all know and have probably committed to memory. In fact most of us know that Psalm 1 is all about the contrast between the two types of people in this world...the wicked and the righteous. It seems that as of late I have been falling into the wicked category more times then I should have. Many of my recent sins and struggles have been inward and because of that I haven't really talked to many of you about them. However God in His mercy and grace is exposing me to the light of His Word and by His Spirit changing me into the image of His Son. I just wanted to share some thoughts "from the heart" with y'all if I could. I know that this section only deals with Psalm 1:1. Hopefully every few days or each week I want to share my thoughts on this passage verse by verse. I really am desiring to develop this into a six week Bible study. One week per verse. I hope it is an encouragement and if needed, a conviction. I know that the past week or two this passage has been both to me. Feel free to add any thoughts you may have!

Psalm 1:1 - "The Slow Fade"

People never just wake up and decide to go out and commit murder or to steal or to commit adultery. This also goes for believers, we just don't one day go out and commit some "major" or "gross" sin. We often fall into a pattern of wrong living over time. We don't jump into sin entirely and completely, we digress and slowly but surely slip into a state of apathy and selfishness. Things are no longer absolute truth and we end up compromising and sinning against the very One who created us for His own glory. This is where a lot of the struggle takes place, not in the absolutes of black and white, but in the gray. What is the progression of sin? Simply put, its a slow fade from black and white to gray. People living in sin go from bad to worse (2 Timothy 3:13). This verse, then, contains rich instruction and warning about the nature of sin. It tells us that if we once begin walking in the counsel of the ungodly, it will not be long until we are standing in the way of sinners and finally sitting down (confirmed in our position) in the seat of scoffers.

1) "Walking in the counsel of the ungodly"
This is where it all starts. The sin committed here is mostly occasional and rare instead of habitual. We have a strong desire to serve the Lord and live for Him but we struggle through the battles and occasionally find ourselves falling. Most of the time we are quick to get back up and keep going on for the Lord. In the beginning we are just merely passing by the ungodly.

2) "Standing in the way of sinners"
Sin goes from occasional practice to habitual way of life. Over time we become desensitized to the sin we commit. Things are not as bad as we think. We no longer call sin what God calls it and we try to justify our actions and wrong doings. We begin to change the way we live and the way we associate with others. We willingly become tolerant of those who commit open sin and willingly go against God and what He says in His Word. Rather than separating from them or confronting them we begin to become just like them. We have now stopped to converse and carry on a conversation with those who we know are against God.

3) "Sitting in the seat of scorners."
This is when we have become just like those that God opposes. Not only do we tolerate sin but we ourselves begin to tempt and teach others how to practice our lifestyle of wickedness towards God. We become hard to the things of God so much so that we forsake Him and all He says to willingly choose to live a life apart from Him. We are no better than those who openly rebuke and make fun of God by blaspheming His name. We are now trying to stop those who pass by us that are trying to live a godly life and we try to bring them to where we are.

Here is an biblical illustration that I thought of. This truth is taught ever so clearly in Genesis 13 with the story of Abraham and Lot. When their families and servants grew too large for them to remain together.

1) Lot first "saw" Sodom (v.10)
2) Then he "set out toward" it (v.11)
3) Lot "pitched his tent near Sodom" (v.12)
4) Then he was "living in" Sodom (v.12)
5) Lastly, Lot was "taken captive" (v.13)

Sin is a downward spiral, leading to death. And don't forget that sin always affects more than just you. It affects you, God, and others. In this case, Lot's sin affected all three. Personally, he (you/yourself) lost his family (others) and his relationship with God was completely destroyed (God). Its interesting that if you study out his family you will see that there were 10 people related to Lot in someway that lived in the same city. 10 was the number of people that God said He would spare the city for. How tragic to think that if Lot would have won his own family to Christ and poured his life into theirs the cities would have been spared. I still remember a quote that I have often heard in sermons and it is so true. "Sin takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you want to pay." When we sin, God still allows there to be consequences for sin. You can choose your sin but you cannot choose the consequences of your sin.

Think about David, the author of Psalm 1.The man who was a man after God's own heart. The man who loved God's Word more than gold. The one who rejoiced in following God's statues more than great riches. The same person who said and was all those things would later commit adultery and murder. What were the consequences? He lost his kingdom, family, everything. All that he had went to ruins. Whats the point? No one is above any sin. Given the right circumstances at the right time every single one of us can commit those same sins. Often times the truth is that those who are seeking God the most are often tempted and tested the most by Satan. I mean just think about it. Why would Satan go after someone who already is an apathetic, no-caring Christian? He wouldn't. What he is after are the Davids, those who are striving to live for the Lord. I know that often times when I am seeking God the most, Satan is often tempting me and trying to get me to sin more than usual. David was a king, someone of prominence. Satan's desire is to knock out those who are held in high esteem before the Lord; those who are living for Him day in and day out.

What do I do if I am in the middle of a battle with temptation and sin right now? Choose to take drastic action. In Matthew 5:29-30 Jesus teaches us the importance of killing all avenues which lead us to sin. He teaches us that we must be willing to take drastic measures to ensure we do not fall into sin and we maintain a proper relationship with God. Its obvious that dismemberment is a very painful thing to talk about. However, here Christ is also presenting us with a challenge. How important is our relationship with God right now? How important should it be? How far are we willing to go to ensure that it stays right? How can we ever say that we would die for Christ if we are not even willing to live for Him and do what is necessary to keep a consistent relationship with Him? Satan will always take whatever we give him. If you give him an inch he will take a mile. If we are not willing to do whatever is necessary to keep away from sin or even the very temptation of sin then it won't be long until we fall again. If you have cancer and the doctor says that the only way to beat cancer and survive is to amputate your leg what are you going to do? The answer is obvious, you will do whatever you have to in order to survive. In the same aspect sin works like a cancer or poison which will eventually destroy us if we do not take action.

How can I get victory you may ask? 1 John 1:9, confess your sin before God and ask Him to cleanse your heart and change you into the image of His Son. Maybe as you read this you think to yourself "its too late." Don't lose hope! Don't quit! Don't give up! David sinned when he committed adultery and murder, but God still forgave Him. Our God is not only a God of justice and righteousness, but also a God of grace and forgiveness. God forgave David's sin and washed it away. He created a new heart within David and restored to David the joy of his salvation (Psalm 51). He chooses to remember our sin no longer and casts it into the deepest seas. He separates our sins as far as the east is from the west. He wipes our slate clean and allows us to start fresh and anew.

Praise God for second chances. May God by His Spirit give us the grace to walk in the light as He is in the light and have victory over sin. And may our lives bring Him glory for He alone is worthy.

Live For One, Link to Slow Fade facebook entry


Here's the video of the song:





FBH(me)-51 FWW-49 (MrsWondering)
DD19 DS 22 Dday-2005-Recovered

"agree to disagree" = Used when one wants to reject the objective reality of the situation and hopefully replace it with their own.
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Thanks Mr W

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
P
Member
OP Offline
Member
P
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
Quote
Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick tempered man displays folly.

Quote
Proverbs 15:18
A wrathful man stirrith up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife

Quote
Ecclesiastes 7:9
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools

Quote
Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest

Quote
Proverbs 14:17
He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated

Quote
Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger

Quote
Proverbs 29:8
Scornful men bring a city into a snare; but wise men turn away wrath

..... to be continued .....

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Search
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 1,116 guests, and 67 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
Mike69, petercgeelan, Zorya, Reyna98, Nofoguy
71,829 Registered Users
Building Marriages That Last A Lifetime
Copyright © 1995-2019, Marriage Builders®. All Rights Reserved.
Site Navigation
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5