ABSTAIN FROM WICKEDNESS

ABSTAIN FROM WICKEDNESS

"Let everyone who names the name of the Lord, abstain from wickedness."
2 Timothy 2:19

This morning I was reading through Proverbs chapter 5 and again I was
reminded of the deceitfulness of sin and its consequences. If you have
been following the news the past week, you have heard many illustrations
of the destructiveness of sin as men yield to its power and control.

I did a quick search this word abstain. Here are some of the meanings of
the word:
1. to stand off, to stand aloof
a. to go away, to depart from anyone
b. to desert, withdraw from one
c. to fall away, become faithless
d. to shun, flee from
e. to cease to vex one
f. to withdraw one's self from, to fall away
g. to keep one's self from, absent one's self from
When Paul instructs Timothy in this passage, he is pretty forthright -
don't play with sin! Martin Luther said that we so often play with sin
like playing with fire. We think we can mess around with it and not get
burned.
Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll, offers several very personal questions
to help us gain an understanding on how severe we need to be with
ourselves in order to "abstain from wickedness."

1. Are you regularly with a person of the opposite sex in appropriate
situations?
2. Are you completely above reproach in all your financial dealings,
including your taxes?
3. Do you expose yourself to explicit sexual materials?
4. If you have a family, do you invest sufficient time with them?
5. Do you tell the truth? How often do you lie (don't forget to count
the little white ones)?
6. How quickly do you say "I am wrong . . . I am genuinely sorry" when
you have said or done something that hurts another?
7. Do you hold grudges?
8. Are you knowingly compromising in some areas of your life, refusing
to acknowledge the consequences that you will surely have to face?
9. Have you formed a habit that is detrimental to your health or your
job or your walk with Christ?
10. Are you proud ... selfish ... arrogant?
11. Have you taken credit for something that someone else did and should
have been rewarded for?
12. Do you return things you borrow?
13. Have you failed to confess something to someone who should know of
your wrongdoing?
14. Are you abusing your mate or your children - physically or
emotionally?
15. Do you allow abuse to happen without seeking help?
16. Do you regularly spend time in prayer and in the Scriptures?

from THE FINISHING TOUCH - Becoming God's Masterpiece by Charles R.
Swindoll - Word
Good thoughts to ponder today.
Great quote: Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens
with our years. -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon