So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. | I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust 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. | Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, 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 lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. |
And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. | And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. |
Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? | Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? |
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. | Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have 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. | All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. |
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 have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon 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 sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may 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 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. |
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 is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. |
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. | For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. |
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. | As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O 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, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed 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 such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear 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. | Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. |
Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name. | Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You. |
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. | By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. |
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, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. |
In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. | Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. |
Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give! | He covets greedily all day long, But the righteous gives and does not spare. |
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 sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had 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. | Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. |
That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. | So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. |