The idea of the seven deadly sins in Christianity refers to a set of vices or sins that could lead believers away from God and harm their spiritual growth. Many people have heard of the seven deadly sins, which are pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, lust, and gluttony. These sins have appeared in music, movies, and anime, and are known to be deadly because they create a stronghold for sinful behavior.
And while the seven deadly sins have had a profound influence on Christian doctrine, literature, and art, they are not meant to be viewed as an exhaustive list of all sins. Lying and blasphemy, for example, are also considered serious offenses that are not included in the list. So, when it comes to these seven particular sins, the important thing that all Christians should know is that these sins can be opposed by practicing their opposing virtues.
Humility, gratitude, patience, diligence, generosity, chastity, and temperance. So with that said, let me introduce to you the seven deadly sins, and here we'll also cover seven points on how to overcome them. My goal in making this design is to remind believers that in order to make an impact on the people around us, we need to focus on making the small steps in our walk with God.
Unlike some of our other designs, we're offering this exclusively in apparel only. So if you'd like one, or if you'd like to support us in this way, you can click the link in the description below. On top of shirts and hoodies, we also have some stickers, pins, and foam cases if you'd like to get those.
Lastly, we're also starting to roll out some of our thumbnail designs for other products as well, so also be on the lookout for those. Again, the link is in the description below, and thank you so much for your support, and back to the video! Point number one, fight pride with humility.
James chapter four, verse six, but he gives more grace. Therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. In this passage, James is describing the grace of God by emphasizing that God is against prideful people, but in turn, he gives grace to humble people.
And this passage is good news for us because here lies the ultimate solution to pride, humility. However, while being humble is an easy concept, it can be difficult to do. You see, according to the Bible, pride is an abomination to God and it can be considered the root of most sins.
And pride can get us to think we're better than others and Satan often takes advantage of our weakness to pride. In fact, pride is thought to be the main thing that caused Satan to fall. So here's two things that can help you grow humility.
One, surround yourself with humble people. So find people that are not always thinking that they're right and find people that don't talk about themselves all the time because I found that if you're around humble people, their character will influence you. And second thing, learn to see people the way God sees them.
You see, pride gets you to see people as lesser or yourself as more, but it's humble people that place less attention on themselves and they normally place greater focus on other people or on a specific purpose. So I'd say that one of the best ways to grow in humility is to start viewing people the way God would because the more you read the Bible and the more you see God's heart for mankind, the more you'll start to develop a heart to meet people's needs. And as you begin moving to a place of meeting people's needs, you'll start developing the type of character that puts the needs of others above your own.
So all that to say, one of the keys to humility is seeing people the way God sees them. Point number two, fight envy with gratitude. Proverbs chapter 14, verse 30, a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
So in this passage, it says that a heart at peace gives life, whereas envy will cause you to rot. So notice the cause and effect. A heart at peace results in life and envy results in decay or death.
And I would say that envy causes a person to decay because this person will always look at their life and be dissatisfied because someone else will always have something better. And even if they do get that thing that they want, a mind that is envious will never be satisfied and they will always find something else to covet in desire and life for them will be this nonstop race to always be on top. So to combat envy and to have peace from the race that jealousy puts you on, I would encourage you to look at Philippians chapter four, verses six to seven, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
So note here that a heart filled with thanksgiving is a key step to take when it comes to combating envy. Note how the passage says, be anxious for nothing. And the reason why I bring this up is because anxiety is one of the fruits of envy.
You see, envy looks at other people and says, I want that. But thanksgiving looks at what they have and says, wow, God has given me everything that I need. So all that to say, envy is the act of being jealous and wanting other people's belongings.
And the way that you combat it is by having a heart of gratitude. And we do that by identifying what God has given us and then by praying prayers of gratitude to God in that moment. Point number three, fight wrath with patience.
Psalm chapter 37, verse eight, refrain from anger and forsake wrath, fret not yourself, it tends only to evil. In this passage, it commands people to not have anger and it says to forsake wrath, which means to abandon it or leave it. The passage goes on to say that people shouldn't fret or worry because this leads to evil.
Honestly, I would say that wrath is a complicated subject because many times when someone wrongs us, we want justice. And we usually think that we have the answer for how people should be punished. However, oftentimes this isn't the case because we're not perfect.
So since we're not perfectly just like God is, we as God's people need to remember that revenge is God's job. Look at Romans chapter 12, verse 19, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. So I want to note here that wrath is God's responsibility.
So if there are moments where there's great injustice, we need to remember that God will handle those people. Now, I'm not saying that if there's wrongdoing to just do nothing, because Christians should also be a light and expose darkness. So that means to call sin out for what it is and it means that we should defend people when we can.
But when it comes to the act of responding in wrath and giving punishment to people for their horrible actions, we need to remember that that's God's job because he alone is perfect and only he can enforce perfect justice. So for you, when you get angry and want to take it out on someone, I want you to take a step back and examine yourself. And I want you to remember that everyone is flawed and has imperfections.
So if you find yourself angry and you want to yell or scream, remember that uncontrolled anger is a sin, just like the sin committed against you. So I would encourage you to find a healthy place where you can channel your feelings of wrath and to give your wrath to God. For me personally, I like removing myself from situations that make me upset.
And I go for a prayer walk or I work out or I vent to a friend. And when I vent, I tell them that I'm venting and that the things that I share with them stay there. Look at Proverbs chapter 19 verse 11.
"Sensible people control their temper. They earn respect by overlooking wrongs. " So see here how the passage says that sensible or wise people control their temper and notes how they can earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
So see here that one way that Christians can do this is by giving God the responsibility of bringing justice to our situation. And once you do this, take the next step and give patience and mercy in the same way that God gave mercy to you. Because despite the fact that God had every right to give us justice, he was still patient and gave us mercy through Jesus's death on the cross.
So if God was patient with us, we as God's children should do the same. Point number four, fight sloth with diligence. Proverbs chapter 13 verse four.
"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. " In this passage, it describes two different souls, the soul of the sluggard and the soul of the diligent. And it says here that the sluggard or lazy person is constantly wanting things and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
And what I want you to notice in this passage is that it refers to the soul. So I would say that this implies that there is a character flaw with the soul of the sluggard. So it's not just about work ethic.
And in the verse, it also shows the perfect way to fight sloth. And the way we can do that is by being diligent. And I would note that your work does not have to be the best or the greatest, but what we do should be done with diligence.
And I know this can sound bad. And some of you might say, "What do you mean we shouldn't do our best? " Let me use our YouTube channel as an example.
Our channel does not focus on making perfect videos. In fact, if you pay attention, there's a lot of mistakes that you'll see. But those errors don't stop us from posting because our goal is to encourage people with God's word.
And another goal of ours is to always improve with every video. And I bring this up because sometimes perfectionism can cause us to be lazy or to put things off. So continuing, note that laziness or sloth is very dangerous for your soul.
And I'd say that one of the biggest dangers with the sin of sloth is it leading to us being spiritually lazy. Because sloth and laziness can lead to us putting off our prayer and quiet time with God, which could eventually lead to us being lukewarm Christians. And we talked about this topic in another video of ours, which you can check out in the link in the description below.
So for you, if you want to fight sloth, I recommend that you don't just add more things to your schedule in an effort to become more busy. In fact, busyness itself can also be a sin if you put your work over God and people. So note, the opposite of sloth or being lazy is diligence.
And one of the best ways to work on your diligence is to start small and to take small steps to build on that diligence. So for example, maybe you choose one habit to work on like reading your Bible. I'd say start small and make it a daily habit to read one verse in Proverbs every morning when you eat breakfast.
And once you do that for a straight week, maybe add a prayer or add another verse to your routine. And that's just a suggestion. I challenge you to think of other things that you can do to help your prayer life or your reading life.
Point number five, fight greed with generosity. First Timothy chapter six, verse 10. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. " In this passage, Paul is warning Timothy to be content with what he has and to be careful to not love money. And he warns that loving money is a start or root of all kinds of evil.
Paul then goes on to say that because of this problem with the love of money, that people in the church have wandered away from the faith and now have many problems. I want you to notice in this passage that it says, "The love of money is a root of evil. " So note, that money is neutral and by itself is not evil.
And I would say that a big part of greed is the love of money. And it's a very serious sin that's caused so many people to fall. And unfortunately, it does happen to people in the church.
And this is why Paul is warning Timothy to watch out for this as he leads God's people. It was a fun story. Back when I worked as a tax preparer, my boss late at night during tax season called me into his office and he had me look at how much someone owed for taxes.
And this random guy owed about $500,000 in taxes. And as I looked in amazement, my boss said, "Don't even worry about it. This guy makes millions.
" And he paid all of it with a check. Then my boss looked at me and he said, "Miles, I work with some of the richest people ever and they are by far some of the most unhappy people and all they do is nitpick and complain. Money doesn't make you happy.
" So word of caution from me to you. Greed can happen to you whether you're poor or rich and it will destroy you if you're not careful. So how do we fight greed?
Well, the opposite of greed is generosity. For you, if money or being materialistic is a problem, I would challenge you to ask God, how should I be more generous? And I would also challenge you to tithe if you don't already.
And if you do give money or you give your things away, make sure you give from the heart and not just because you have extra money or stuff. Also check your heart towards the money that you have or the things that you love and ask yourself, is this my master or is God my master? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9.
7 that God loves the cheerful giver. So with that in mind, you don't want to have a bad attitude with giving. So all that to say, give from the heart and out of a place of love.
And if you give, don't do it to appear generous or to get the approval of people. So if you can help it, try to be secretive about it. And as you do this, remember what Jesus said in Acts 20, verse 35, "It is better to give than to receive.
" Point number six, fight lust with chastity. Matthew 5, verse 28, "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. " In this passage, Jesus is giving the famous sermon on the Mount and he speaks on the topic of lust.
And he said, if someone looks at a woman in a lustful way, then they've committed adultery with her in their heart. So note that Jesus presents a very different perspective of adultery for the people he's talking to because he says the problem isn't just in the physical act, but in their heart. So Jesus here gets to the root of lust, which is our heart.
So how do you fight lust? Well, later in the passage, Jesus says that if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
And when Jesus said this, he didn't mean it literally, rather he calls people to be intentional about taking extreme measures to remove sin from our life. So for you, as you fight lust, find the first thing that tempts you. Maybe it's something like scrolling through social media, and maybe you take steps to remove it from your life or to restrict access to it in some way.
Also, you can let someone you know and trust in on the things that tempt you. And if you'd like some help with that, Covenant Eyes is a great program that helps people get victory against porn. Essentially, they monitor your browsing and will send reports to someone you trust.
So if you look at a questionable website, it gives them the opportunity to check in with you. So if you think this can help you in your fight against lust, click the link in the description below. To close on this, note that the opposite of lust is chastity, which is self-restraint from anything sexual.
So this means anything sexual that is in your life, like movies, certain shows, video games, or even making dirty jokes. And I'd say that these should be completely removed. And to add to that, try to make it a practice to say no to things that are related to instant gratification and to say yes to walking in the spirit.
So remember what Galatians 5. 16 says, "Walk in the spirit and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. " So feed your spirit by reading God's word and praying, and soon you'll have more victory against lust.
And for a deeper study on this issue, check out our video on how to defeat lust. And point number seven, fight gluttony with temperance. Proverbs chapter 23, verses 20 to 21, "Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will soon come to poverty and slumber will clothe them with rags.
" In this passage, King Solomon is giving wisdom regarding hanging around people who party too much. And this passage combines drunkards and galutins who don't know when to quit and they lack self-control. And this passage says that people who do this will eventually have nothing and be poor.
And this is an important passage in the Bible because one, the people you surround yourself with will influence how you act. And two, the end result of people who are gluttonous and are drunkards will be that of hardship and need. And please note, gluttony is more than just eating too much.
It's overindulgence and not knowing when to stop. For many people, food or alcohol is a source of comfort and they will go to it to help with their negative feelings and in turn fall into the sin. I would also argue that not having restraint for highly caffeinated energy drinks or even drinking coffee all day long could also fall into the category of gluttony.
So when it comes to fighting against gluttony, we need to know what the opposite of it is, which is temperance or having self-restraint or self-control. So for you, if you're eating too much or drinking too much, treat your body as an actual temple that God lives in and then treat it with respect. So if you struggle with eating too much, maybe you find a dietician or someone who can get you on an eating schedule.
And if you think that's too expensive, I know there's tons of YouTubers that specialize in health and nutrition. And if you struggle with drinking too much, change the type of people that you hang out with. And if this sin is as serious and intense as having an eating disorder or if you're an alcoholic, please seek a professional recovery program that can help you and keep you accountable, okay?
So what can you do to fight these seven deadly sins? Point one, fight pride with humility. Point two, fight envy with gratitude.
Point three, fight wrath with patience. Point four, fight sloth with diligence. Point five, fight greed with generosity.
Point six, fight lust with chastity. And point seven, fight gluttony with temperance. To close, the key step for getting victory against all these things is self-control.
So I'd encourage you to ask God for self-control, to hang out with people who have self-control, and to make small steps to grow your walk with God. And if you have one sin in particular that you're battling, remember that the answer is to act in the opposite. So keep fighting.
And as you do, always remember that Jesus loves you. (upbeat music) Hey guys, thanks so much for watching that video. If it was a blessing to you, please consider liking, subscribing, and ringing that notification bell so you don't miss a single upload.
I also wanna give a huge shout out to our team listed below. Their hard work makes this whole thing possible, so give them some love. Their links are in the description below.
We also wanna say a big thank you to our newest members who joined this week. We appreciate you guys so, so much. Your support makes videos like this possible.
So thanks for being a part of this journey. If you'd like to support us in the work we're doing, please consider becoming a member. For the price of a coffee each month, you can be contributing towards reaching people online with the gospel message.
Click the link in the description below and become a part of the community today. Thanks so much for your support, and we'll see you all next time. God bless.
