In the Old Testament, God’s presence was in the tabernacle that the children of Israel moved as they traveled through the desert. So it was a very holy place. At one point in time, God’s presence even left the tabernacle because of the people’s sin. Today, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so we are walking tabernacles, and we don’t want to lose His presence in our lives as well.
When we embrace some unrepentant sin in our hearts, we are giving place to the devil; we are providing a portal for possible demonic influence into our souls. The seven deadly sins are examples:
* Gluttony – an excessive and ongoing eating of food and drink (and drugs),
* Greed – an insatiable desire for money and wealth,
* Lust – feeding one’s sexual appetites with inappropriate relationships, magazines, websites, movies, music, or art,
* Sloth – an excessive laziness or failure to utilize one’s God- given talents,
* Wrath – uncontrolled feelings of anger<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anger>, rage<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_(emotion)>, and even hatred<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatred> toward another person,
* Pride – an excessive view of one’s self without regard for others, and
* Envy – an intense desire to have a quality or possession that someone else possesses.
We could add to this unforgiveness, a lust for power, and sins of omission – a failure to act as the Lord calls us to act in given situations.
Not addressing these sins raises serious questions:
* How can we engage in spiritual warfare with gaps in our armor?
* How can we fight for our loved ones when we are compromised?
* How can we cry out to God for assistance when we have idols (rival gods) in our hearts?
* How can we show the love and truth of Christ when our soul is soiled by unrepentant sin?
The remedy for these maladies is REPENTANCE – coming before the Lord in total humility and asking for forgiveness, then asking for forgiveness from those we have wronged, and forgiving those who have wronged us. Only then will we be spiritually clean, and we can go forth with the joy of the Lord, witnessing His love and truth to those who come across our path.
To God be the glory
Board of Evangelism