Sin begins with a "thought"

A. W. Tozer said:

"What we think about when we are free to think about what we will--that is what we are or will soon become"

As a Christian, every wrong act or practice begins with a "thought". I need to understand that Christians are always engaged in a spiritual warfare. The enemy (Satan) is able and will continue to establish his strongholds in our lives. Those strongholds must be pulled down by God Himself. The real battle is a battle for my mind. Sin happens after a "thought" came into my mind, I begin to ponder, contemplate, consider and thinking whatever that my flesh will lead me to sin. Its my heart that took hold of my "thought" that I began to thinking of the pleasurable aspects of my "thought". This where I fail because in Proverbs 4:23, it says "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do." An example of one great Bible man who sinned after "thinking". David with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). David woke up from a nap, went for a stroll on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman taking a bath. Through the eyes of David, enter into his mind, he sees a beautiful naked woman and began thinking about her. I am a man, and I have a GOOD IDEA what he was thinking. David's thinking led him to self-serving which was motivated by lust and envy. This is where God has a problem with me (as well as with all Christians). The problem is my spiritual condition which is measured by my heart, not my actions. God sees and measures the heart more than He sees my actions. My sinful actions were the RESULT of my sinful heart. I need to control my "thoughts". I am unable to master all of our tendencies and desires on my own however I know and should submit myself to the Holy Spirit so that I can be empowered to exercise self-control. I need to use the spiritual resources God has placed at my disposal. Spiritually, I am an enabled believer and the enablement of the Spirit must be used in my daily life. God already supplied the resources and all I have to do is submit. Simply submit. I am reminded that I am a dust which means flesh and God wants me to be spiritual. If I am to rely on my flesh, God will refuse to help me. If I am to rely on God's Spirit, He has given me His word; He has promised that I would never be tempted above what I am able to bear; He has placed Himself at my disposal in response to believing prayer; He has made available to me the infinite moral power of His Holy Spirit to enable me to do His will here on earth. There is no excuse for ME acting like timid weaklings who falls into sin. More Scripture readings: Proverbs 16:2 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 Colossians 3:1-5 Galatians 5:16-26

Satan is clever in the use of disguise and deception. Yet we must be on guard for lower level deception. A.W. Tozer