O Perfection Made Flesh, You have warned me about all that is in the world … the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. If these ungodly powers which are at work in the world go unchecked, they will ensnare me into a life of sin. The lust of my flesh is a body-focused and emotion-driven reaction to my fallen nature and the fleshly appetites that can never be satisfied. As a result, my spirit is in constant war with this force of evil. You have pointed out to me that the mind of a sinful man is death, but a mind controlled by You finds life. I’ve come to understand that I cannot rely on myself to overcome the lusts of my flesh. I can triumph when I avoid them and flee to a place of safety. I can remove temptations and occasions of sin by diverting my thoughts to You, Your righteousness, Your love and Your Word. Through my knowledge of You and who I am in You, I can participate in Your divine nature and escape the corruption in the world.
The lust of my eyes is an intellect-oriented and imagination-driven force of wishful thinking that tries to control my behavior. The problem with unfettered thoughts, if not stopped, is that they conceive sin in my mind, even if my body does not act on them. You have shown me that my eyes are a lamp to my body. If my eyes are good, my whole body will be filled with light. If my eyes are bad, my whole body will be filled with darkness. To possess good vision, I must see clearly what You want and keep You in my sight. When my view of things is clouded by self-serving desires, interests and goals, I cannot see Your will and plan for my life. I can only be tempted when I yield myself to evil desires that lead me astray and entice me. I must resist these evil yearnings by turning to You for strength and obedience of Your Word. To be victorious, I must accept responsibility for my failings, openly confess my sins and seek Your cleansing and renewing.
The pride of life is a self-oriented and ego-driven impulse for power that manifests itself in pride. When I am filled with pride, I am easily deceived by a self-love that distorts and commandeers my affections for godly things. It makes me self-centered and leads me to believe I deserve all that I touch, see or imagine. I become greedy. As it dominates my life, I live in constant fear of rejection and ridicule. While I place a high value on the praise of men, I ignore the fact that it is fickle and fleeting. In joining forces with pride, I love myself, my money and my position which makes me ungrateful, without self-control, conceited, uncaring and a lover of pleasure. Humility is my antidote for pride. I must recognize that giving in to these worldly powers may give me pleasure for a season, but will make me Your enemy. But by faith in You, I know that I can prevail over sin. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
I John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.