Last week we studied about the kinds of walls we build – those we should build and those we should not build. So, this week I thought we would follow-up on how to tear down the “not-so-good-walls and how to build those walls we desire and that are good for us. Let’s begin.

At some point in our life all of us have dealt with the seed of anger, covetousness, greed, jealousy, and perhaps even rebellion. They are common to the human race, no one is exempt from their temptation. The key is learning what to do with them to gain our victory. It is only with God’s help that we can achieve victory over these sins of the flesh and soul. (The flesh is of course our body, and the soul is our emotions and intellect). Please take note that just because you think these issues are not a problem your life does not mean you are in control of them. Even “if” you can somewhat inwardly hide them, they will eventually work to the surface and become an outward problem in your life. IT IS ONLY WITH THE HELP OF GOD THAT WE CAN OVERCOME AND GET VICTORY OVER ANY SIN. We must learn to face these problems with the Word of God. Victory begins with submission to what God’s Word says about sin, conviction of our sin, repentance of that sin, receiving His forgiveness, and commitment to according to His Word.

Anger is a big problem these days. We see it in every area of our lives, and it is akin to impatience. While anger is a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; impatience is more like irritability or restlessness. But both have the potential to lead to sin so we must guard against allowing sin to be ignited. We see in Mark 3:4-5 that Jesus looked with anger at those whose hearts were stubborn. Since we also know that Jesus never sinned, we know that anger in and of itself is not necessarily a sin, it is how we handle the anger. Ephesians 4:26 teaches, “In your anger do not sin.” I am sure that most of us can testify that anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” (James 1:20) Both anger and impatience are byproducts of a lack of peace in our heart.

Jealousy is envy of someone or their achievements and advantages. Jealousy and anger go together, both are big problems. Envy can cause a person to have a sense of failure because of their lack of achievements; or perhaps it is just the way they are perceiving their achievements. None of us have the same advantages as everyone else; we are all different and have different sets of experiences. The key is to not let those differences lead to jealously that is based in human reasoning. We learned last week that there is a right and wrong motivation to jealously. Most of the time we think of jealousy just in connection towards and because of another person, however, Exodus 20:5 tells us that God is a jealous God; therefore, not all jealously is a sin, because there is NO sin in our Heavenly Father. God’s jealousy is for us, and for our good. He wants us all to Himself, and does not want to share us with other gods! According to Psalm 78:58, we anger God when we worship other gods. We must guard against putting anyone or anything in the position where only God belongs in our heart.

Covetousness – an insatiable desire for worldly gain; desire to find fulfillment, meaning and purpose in things, instead of in God. It leads to greed with a selfish desire for something other than what we have. King David had this problem concerning Bathsheba and that sin led to many consequences of sorrow throughout the rest of his life. We are to be content with what we have and not desire another’s possession, etc. (Hebrews 13:5)

Rebellion is a big problem in our society today, and probably has been in every society but because of social and news media the evidence is more widely seen. Rebellion will challenge every level of authority. The Bible states that rebellion is the sin of divination (witchcraft), and arrogance (stubbornness), and like the evil of idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23). Divination is simply trying to foretell the future by occult means. Idolatry is the worship of idols. Both are means to replace God in our lives. Rebellion an outward expression that is rooted in selfishness; a rebellious person never wants to submit to authority but do things their own way! Complaining and murmuring is a form of rebellion and done in the whispers with our voice rather than a bold expression of words. God sees both, and in either case we are held accountable of our expressions.

Every spirit of rebellion is ultimately a rebellion against God, but we are assured in Exodus 34:6-7 that God is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. (Numbers 14:18)

We only addressed four issues that are problematic in the lives of individuals and in our society. We can try to hide the problems of our heart but Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45 tell us that the abundance in our heart is exposed by what we say. Sooner or later the evidence will be known by our words, our actions, and our temperament. The only way to achieve victory over any sin is to keep our heart diligently in line with God’s Word. To do that we address the possibilities of sin by asking God to search our heart and reveal to us is there is any sin, and then repent of that sin, and commit to live for Him according to His Word.

All sin begins with our thoughts and God has given us instructions on how to get the victory over those thoughts that lend themselves to producing sin in our lives in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”  Then in Second Corinthians 10:5, He tells us to “cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” The more we learn of God’s Word, the more we understand the spirit behind the thoughts that come to us and are able to either cast them down or confirm them with our words.

God has called you and I into His Kingdom. So, face your sinful problems with God’s Word before they bring disaster into your life. Repent of any sin, receive His forgiveness, and allow Him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Walk (live) worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10 and 1 Thessalonians 2:12).