I can't Help Myself

“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes , , , I will not know wickedness.” Ps. 101:3-4

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.” Psalm 111:10

God is holy, and all who are privileged to be called a child of God should be committed to avoiding evil. Both the pursuit of holiness and the avoidance of sin require determined effort–a striving that will require the Holy Spirit’s power, not mere human willpower. And one supports the other, holiness will encourage avoiding sin. And avoiding sin can lead to holiness.

Refusing to “know wickedness” means we will not fill our minds with sin or take it in with our eyes. However, our culture is determined to make all manner of evil seem normal. and good. Every advertizement seems to make evil appear good and greatly to be desired. If not the product, the related conduct and/or presentation is designed to make evil attractive and good. It is difficult to suppress the desire to “check it out.” So doing, however, is to repeat the sin of Eve, then Adam. They saw that it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and to be desired to make one wise (Genesis 3:6).

Yes, even food can become sin, and attractiveness enhances the taste and desire. Food can be destructive to the body, lead to gluttony, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even heart disease, to name a few. Instead of allowing attractiveness, and personal pleasure be our invitation to sin, let us choose what is healthy and godly.

Satan is powerful in making sin look good. Even though it may lead to several kinds of sins, lead to hurts and on-going pain, as well as harden our hearts against what is good and godly, it will certainly look good.

And justification for our actions of sin, is only our pride from our desire to appear wise, at least in our own eyes. Instead of admitting sin and confessing to God and seeking His forgiveness, we rely upon our own wisdom to defend our actions and thoughts, deny responsibility and often blame it on others. All too often, our response is “I can’t help myself.” We make it appear to be God’s fault, for He made us this way and there is nothing we can do about it.

But there is something we can do about it, with the power of the Holy Spirit, which means full surrender to Him instead of “leaning on our own understanding.” We must let Him direct our path, make our choices, and focus our eyes (Prov. 3:5-6).

1. Set nothing “wicked” before your eyes. If you don’t look upon it there will be no temptation.
2. Refuse to “know” wickedness, Don’t check it out, there is no reason to “know” evil.
3. Let the “fear of the Lord” make you wise.. It is the beginning of real wisdom.