See Proverbs 1:10,15
It is popular to believe that we have little power over the self-destructive impulses and behaviors emanating from within. According to this view, all are slaves to their chemical and biological makeup. If this is true, it follows that we are excused from any need to change our ways.
No wonder this quasi-scientific understanding of human nature is accepted by so many people. It opens a wide path for selfindulgent behavior and exempts virtually everyone from judgment, discipline, and shame. It further permits us to disregard the idea that life is deeply moral, that “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4), and that God is a God of judgment as well as mercy. In the passage from Proverbs, the father warns the son that there is great danger in embracing the sinful life: “Do not set foot on their paths, for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood (vv. 15–16).”
Even though the son stands warned, he may choose to indulge his natural inclination to sin. But what seems natural to him is unnatural in the eyes of God. When we are permissive to our sinful nature, we pay the price of further alienation from God. Paul says, “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
God is always calling us to walk with Him. Can we hear? Will we listen? Will we choose well?
—Eric Kampmann, Signposts