Weekly Devotional - Aaron
“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." -1 Corinthians 6:12
In the 1300's, smack dab in the middle ages, an Italian named Dante Alighieri wrote a work of fiction called the Divine Comedy. One of those portions was titled, the Inferno, and recounted a person's journey through 9 stages or levels of Hell. Seven of the nine stages were directly tied to what we've come to call, 'the seven deadly sins'. Over the years these seven deadly sins have taken on a life and legend of their own, with books, movies, and tv shows all jumping on this concept of the most vile of sins, and although that list is not neatly laid out in Scripture the way Dante seems to view them, they certainly are present in the Scriptures as things that bring about Hell on earth. Two of the seven; pride and lust, were the topics of conversation this past Sunday. Pride, in my opinion, is quite possibly the root of all evil. We feel we are entitled to something we aren't getting. It is hurt pride that has led to so much of the Hell we see in the world today. Likewise, lust puts people in Hell of their own making. Although I don't agree with Dante's depiction of Hell, I do believe that where we see these things present, Hell is close by. The Kingdom of God directly opposes the domain of Hell. The Kingdom of God is shedding light into every corner of darkness within the human soul and our world today. The Spirit of God does not simply remove these things from the life of the believer, The Spirit of God gives us the power and ability to overcome and master these beasts that seek to devour us like pride and lust. Our world is falling victim to these beasts, and it is looking to the people of God in how to overcome them. Countless individuals come into the Kingdom of God based on what they observe in our lives; how we handle adversity, how we replace lust with love, and pride with humility. I know we don't always do that perfectly, and Paul is telling us as such, but he is calling us to a higher plane. The gates of Hell stand no chance against the people of God mastering the beasts of pride and lust; as we do this, the Kingdom of God is quite literally bringing our world out of Hell into His marvelous light. As Dante might say, as the people of God put away these things, we move out of inferno and into paradiso.
Questions for reflection:
1. What Kingdom are our lives and actions building? Are we reflecting more light or darkness in our thoughts and actions? More inferno or paradiso?
2. How can we bring the Kingdom of God to Earth in our lives and relationships?
3. How are we mastering the beasts that are pride and lust? Do we need to seek accountability on these things?
- Aaron
In the 1300's, smack dab in the middle ages, an Italian named Dante Alighieri wrote a work of fiction called the Divine Comedy. One of those portions was titled, the Inferno, and recounted a person's journey through 9 stages or levels of Hell. Seven of the nine stages were directly tied to what we've come to call, 'the seven deadly sins'. Over the years these seven deadly sins have taken on a life and legend of their own, with books, movies, and tv shows all jumping on this concept of the most vile of sins, and although that list is not neatly laid out in Scripture the way Dante seems to view them, they certainly are present in the Scriptures as things that bring about Hell on earth. Two of the seven; pride and lust, were the topics of conversation this past Sunday. Pride, in my opinion, is quite possibly the root of all evil. We feel we are entitled to something we aren't getting. It is hurt pride that has led to so much of the Hell we see in the world today. Likewise, lust puts people in Hell of their own making. Although I don't agree with Dante's depiction of Hell, I do believe that where we see these things present, Hell is close by. The Kingdom of God directly opposes the domain of Hell. The Kingdom of God is shedding light into every corner of darkness within the human soul and our world today. The Spirit of God does not simply remove these things from the life of the believer, The Spirit of God gives us the power and ability to overcome and master these beasts that seek to devour us like pride and lust. Our world is falling victim to these beasts, and it is looking to the people of God in how to overcome them. Countless individuals come into the Kingdom of God based on what they observe in our lives; how we handle adversity, how we replace lust with love, and pride with humility. I know we don't always do that perfectly, and Paul is telling us as such, but he is calling us to a higher plane. The gates of Hell stand no chance against the people of God mastering the beasts of pride and lust; as we do this, the Kingdom of God is quite literally bringing our world out of Hell into His marvelous light. As Dante might say, as the people of God put away these things, we move out of inferno and into paradiso.
Questions for reflection:
1. What Kingdom are our lives and actions building? Are we reflecting more light or darkness in our thoughts and actions? More inferno or paradiso?
2. How can we bring the Kingdom of God to Earth in our lives and relationships?
3. How are we mastering the beasts that are pride and lust? Do we need to seek accountability on these things?
- Aaron
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