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Hurt and Passion
July 8, 2017

Last week we considered independence and freedom and we understand that the freedom we enjoy is a gift given to us through faith in Jesus. This week hurt and passion are under scrutiny. I think some people look at these two terms as being opposite, that passion is far removed from hurt. Passion is closely linked to hurt and is derived from the Latin passio which is a cousin of the Greek root "path" meaning to suffer. From the very beginning passion and hurt are linked. Jesus suffered for us to that we can have the Christian freedom we enjoy today.

Acts 1:1-8
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus' passion referenced in these verses was his torture and crucifixion. It was this passion, full of pain and suffering that allows us to enjoy the Christian freedom we have today. Yet the Bible also speaks of another type of passion, the very human lusty passion. As Christians, we are to crucify these lusty human passions to partake of the Chrsitian freedoms bestowed upon us.

Galatians 5:17-25
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

As Christians, we are reminded to not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; instead we are to live a life of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meakness, and temperance. The more we live our lives according to these ideals, the more Christ-like we become.

James 4:1-11
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

The problems we have in life come from the lusts as Christians we are supposed to control. Living a life of lust makes it easy to forget what living a life of faith can be. We can forget to ask God and Jesus for intervention in our life, and even when we remember to ask, we ask for selfish reasons that are never delivered. As we draw close to God, God will draw close to us. Over the next few weeks, we will look at the fruit of the Spirit as enumerated by Paul in his letter to the Galatians, and will use these to draw close to God.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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