Jesus
summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and
understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but
the things that come out from within are what defile.” When he got home away
from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them,
“Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that
everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters
not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he
declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles
him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity,
theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Where does
the desire to commit sin emanates? It first emanates from within us. It begins
when we think about it and if we don’t stop thinking about our desire to commit
sin it slowly progresses. Until we actually give flesh to our desire to sin by
actually doing it.
For example,
the desire of a husband/wife to betray their marriage vows. It starts by
thinking about it and when she/he sees that the situation is conducive to
commit the act of sin/betrayal. The spouse will now succumb to commit this
immoral sin. Therefore, the desire to commit sin originates from within us.
How then
could we avoid sin? We pray to Jesus and ask His help to exterminate whatever
sinful desires that we have in our minds. Then we also have to do our part by
taking action to rid ourselves of the desire to sin and by running away from
sin. Because if we pray yet our actions are not according to what we have been
praying for we would still commit sin sooner or later. As the saying goes God
help those who help themselves.
But come to think
of it, why do we commit sin? The simple answer is we don’t take our faith in
Jesus seriously this is the reason why we commit sin when we want to commit it.
Are we not tired yet of sinning? Are we not tired yet of mortgaging our lives
to the devil? When we continuously mortgage our lives to the devil through sin,
there is the danger that we may not anymore be able to get out of it!
It’s about
time that we change this cycle of sin, it’s about time that we rid ourselves of
any sinful thoughts and desires. It’s about time that we free ourselves from
any problems and complication brought about by sin. This could only
happen if we ask Jesus to come into our lives.
Would you be
willing to humbly pray to Jesus to come into your life? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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