So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. | So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. |
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. | Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. |
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You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. | You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. |
And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. | The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. |
Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? | Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? |
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. | But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. |
You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. | “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. |
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. | For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. |
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. | I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. |
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. |
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. | For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. |
Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. | Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. |
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. | You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. |
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. | As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. |
Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! | Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. |
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. | No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. |
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. | When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. |
Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name. | Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. |
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. | Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. |
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. | For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. |
In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. | Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. |
Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give! | All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing. |
Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” | What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” |
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. | Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. |
That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. | Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. |