Ephesians 4:19 “Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
Paul is warning about people who constantly yield to the wickedness of their flesh to the extent it goes past their feeling, and they no longer feel the guilt or shame, even when being convicted. This leads them to unrelenting lasciviousness and uncleanness because they have allowed greed to take over and cripple them, as mentioned in the last part of verse 19.
Errors
Often, we live our lives full of errors instead of the correct path that God has called us to live. When we delve into the sins and mistakes and dig even deeper to a point where we lose conviction, we will find it very difficult to live a faithful Christian life. Whatever deep dark sins or addictions we are struggling with, they will become habitual if we do not conquer them.
James 1:15 “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
The Bible says that lust brings forth sin, and then sin leads to death. We will always be tempted to greedily grab as many sins as possible because they provide a temporary fix to our problems and pleasure to our flesh. Nonetheless, each temporary sinful pleasure will bring a permanent sinful consequence called death.
We struggle to overcome our sins because we cling to the temporary happiness sins provide us, even knowing the sins will end us up in misery and pain.
Furthermore, the consequences caused by our sins may even affect the next generation. That is how severe it can get.
Always check on ourselves if we are so crippled by our sins that the Holy Spirit no longer convicts us, or have we delved so greedily into that sinful error, that we no longer feel the disgust and guilt of our sin, or even the fear for our Lord anymore. Do not let our greed cripple us that we no longer cherish the grace and mercy of God.
Electronics
Whether it be video games, television, social media, or even clips on the internet like Youtube, these feed our flesh where we seek validation, comfort, and pleasure. It creates a similar pattern because what follows that is addiction, as we become addicted to these platforms and channels because of the temporary fixes they give us and feed off our greed.
Some of us may argue or defend our stand, that it is nothing wrong if we watch and comment on Christian youtube videos, but what’s more important is to assess whether we are doing that to serve our flesh or the Lord.
1 Peter 1:13 “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”
God wants us to take hold of our minds and be sober, but if we choose to greedily grab as many electronics as we want and eat our heart out on the internet. These worldly electronic devices will consume and corrupt our minds because they were first created for our convenience and to feed our flesh, to begin with.
Scientific studies have proven that even though these devices help us with our quick concentration levels, but it is counterproductive towards our long term concentration. This ultimately will kill our discipline and mindset to sit in for an hour’s sermon or preaching. We need to be very aware of how these devices are trying to reprogram or brainwash our minds to not function in their full potential given by God.
If we delve heavily into electronics, it will lead us to become fatigued or mess with our minds and cause us to imagine things unnecessarily. Worse still is that it will harm our posture and jeopardize our physical health. This comes to show how our greed for electronics will cripple and harm both our physical and spiritual health.
Estate
Proverbs 23:3-4 “Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.”
We know that some of us may spend our whole lives working hard at schools and work to earn more money to spend on vacation, something that is attainable. As our greed grows, we may even go to casinos to gamble in hopes of multiplying our riches and so that we can afford larger estates and properties.
Nonetheless, as we try to grab more estates greedily, it also creates more trash for us along the process. It means these items or estates may be considered a wasted item instead of necessary in our lives.
What good do all these estates and properties have on us if the rapture were to happen this very moment? When it comes to attaining riches, we need to trust that The Lord will provide, all according to His purpose and will. We should not rely on our greed to acquire these possessions. Instead, we should be serving God to acquire our riches, not the other way around.
Did we delve so greedily into our rich estates that we now hesitate to tithe and give to the Lord? When our greed creeps in, it does not matter how much more we have, we will prioritize our possessions and worldly inheritance more than God.
Esteem
Many of us want to look good in the eyes of others, our friends, family, peers, and colleagues. Even saved Christians tend to want to be popular among our Christian community.
1 Corinthians 7:34 “There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. “
This verse is eye-opening, not that marriage is a bad thing, but it is a fact that our attention will be partly diverted away from God if not entirely because we have a spouse or family to hold us accountable.
If we are too eager to please men more than God, this priority is displeasing to God.
How often have we thought about pleasing God more than people?
Do we get more concerned when we are rejected or pushed away by people rather than having peace in the Lord?
End
What is our end? Do we perceive our end and ultimate calling through the lens of the world or the Bible?
We all have ambition and specific talents, but are we using these talents to glorify God or please our flesh?
Whether it’s physical or spiritual ambitions, we need to ask ourselves if we are pursuing them according to God’s will. What’s the point of growing a ministry but full of carnal Christians and watered-down doctrines?
2 Timothy 2:5 “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”
The point is that all that for all the work we put into striving for our perceived end goal, but if it’s not done lawfully in the eyes of God, we may lose it all and not earn even one single crown.
Our end goal should be set upon kingly things that are above Heaven, not on earth.
Everything
Are we greedily trying to grab everything in our way, that we get past the conviction from the Holy Spirit?
It may not always be about the physical things around us. Sometimes it is ourselves that we greedily try to grab and please and delve into our own selfish personality.
1 Samuel 8:4-7 “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
This passage emphasizes the free will that God gives us, that He will not always interfere with our choices in lives. He will send us some warning, and if we forsake His warning, He may give us what we want and send us delusions to cripple our Holy Spirit so that we no longer feel convicted.
By the end of the day, the Bible tells us that it is pointless if we greedily chase after everything worldly in our lives but fail to preach God’s words and lead souls to salvation.