Slippery slope….

 Slippery slope….

I have been trying out various shower mats which each  promise to be nonskid…my shower is supposed to be nonskid, but adding soap, shampoo and conditioner makes it like an icy, slippery place…I finally ended up with one that is a PVC loofah, soft and doesn’t slide around nor do I…

I thought of this often as we face various challenges in the world…one thing leads to another and another…the consequences may not be to our liking from decisions made…and we are on a slippery slope to an abyss that wasn’t what we first started with…

Frustration turns to bitterness…bitterness to anger…anger turns to hate…hate to death…

King David stayed home from his war, saw a woman sunbathing, desired her, took her, had her husband killed…a slippery slope on an unguarded heart…

The prophet Nathan confronted him and he saw his sin….which led to forgiveness, but there were still consequences…

Nebuchadnezzar saw all his riches and bragged of them….all “he” had done, acquired…was humbled until he realized whose riches he had bragged of….pride…

Judas saw an opportunity to make money, please men and “sold” Jesus…remorse, suicide…

Paul despised Christians zealously…his slippery slope led him into faith…as God dramatically changed his course from hate to love…

Just a few of the slippery slopes recounted in Scriptures…

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. 

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-25 

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. 

And be thankful. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:8-10,12-17

Thank YOU….