Wednesday September 2nd Action Plan!

Write a list of how your specific sins function to hurt yourself, God, and others, and ultimately serve to disrupt the unity we have between God and His creation (this includes ourselves). Take one specific sin (ex. anger) and do a short writing exercise detailing how the world would prove to be better if this sin did not exist. If you are brave, do a write-up that details what the world is like because of this sin. Compare and contrast.

SIN: JEALOUSY

The effects of this sin:

1)Forsake God and fail to realize His grace
2)Fail to realize that you do not possess anything
3)Makes you feel bitter inside
4)Harbour animosity
5)Forget about how much you may love the person you are jealous of (if you are jealous of a family member or friend)
6)Forget that the person you are jealous of is a special creation of God's that He loves and blesses just like you
7)Forget your own blessings
8)Break unity and oneness with God and His creation
9)Become separated from God
10)Has led to all kinds of evil (murder, etc)
11)Act and think in darkness
12)Spiritual blindness (failing to see God and recognize Him in your life)
13)Cannot exercise the fruits of the Spirit(love, patience, gentleness, Galatians 5:22-23)
14)Hurt yourself
15)Fail to encourage others and build them up
16)Fail to realize God's mercy
17)Fail to praise God and rejoice in Him
18)Fail to show love and happiness
19)Show control, selfish ambition, and individualism
20)Not concentrated on God's purpose of winning souls for His kingdom, healing and changing lives
21)Walk based on emotions and self-will rather than God's will
22)Cannot experience God in His fullness
23)Live in lies that are hard to overcome
24)Pride and selfishness

A WORLD WITHOUT JEALOUSY

1)God's will is enacted
2)Lack of pride, experience true humility
3)Show sincere love and happiness
4)Able to encourage and uplift others
5)Experience oneness, unity, and harmony with God and His believers
6)Walk in the fruits of the Spirit
7)Run the race marked out for us
8)Living in light and truth of God
9)Acknowledge and thankful for your own blessings
10)Understand that God has a reason for where you are in life and then can truly be a blessing there
11)Contentment
12)Realize the interconnectivity of life
13)Show that we have died to sin
14)Create a space of Heaven on Earth
15)Show that God's spirit is within us
16)Are a good example and witness to others
17)Show that you truly know and understand God
18)Show that you are God's child and that you belong to Him
19)Reduced amount of snowballing sins (ex. jealously leads to anger, hatred)
20)Deny the self and live for others
21)Actively fighting against evil

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: When we experience jealousy and let it rule our hearts without confronting it, it shows that we do not really know God and that we are blind. We do not praise God for the grace through blessings he has given us and disrupt unity between us, Him, and His creation. We fail to realize that life is interconnected and that we are fighting for one purpose: to win souls to God. We fail to realize that we have done absolutely nothing to deserve what we have and that everything is a gift. We fail to truly love others...and this is a big part of our faith. We must make a commitment to counteract such sins in ourselves and remember what our world is like because of sin and what it would be like without it. =)

-I