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VERSES ABOUT VICES AND ADDICTIONS
Addiction and bad habits can be so destructive. Think about it, addiction is clinging to something—a behavior, a substance, an activity, even a person—that's actually harming you. So many of us struggle with these things, feeling trapped by a vice or an addiction. Sometimes, we feel like it's because of our past.
But here's the truth: in God, we're free. Christ set us free from all of that and forgave our sins. If you keep dwelling on the past, those chains can really hold you back. Sometimes, these struggles can even stem from negative spiritual influences, finding a foothold and coming to light when we unknowingly open a door, giving the enemy a legal right to step in.
You have the power to let go of what's binding you. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas of bondage you need to address. Receive God's forgiveness and His healing. He's there for you.
I pray that we all find freedom from anything that's hurting us and holding us back. Just like it says in John 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
And this shall be in that day: his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke will be taken away from your neck, and the yoke will decay at the appearance of the oil.
Jesus answered them: "Amen, amen, I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
All is lawful to me, but not all is expedient. All is lawful to me, but I will not be driven back by the authority of anyone.
So if anyone is a new creature in Christ, what is old has passed away. Behold, all things have been made new.
Temptation should not take hold of you, except what is human. For God is faithful, and he will not permit you to be tempted beyond your ability. Instead, he will effect his Providence, even during temptation, so that you may be able to bear it.
Instead, be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in its desires.
Be vigilant and pray, so that you may not enter into temptation. Indeed, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
For the First Sabbath. A Psalm of David. The earth and all its fullness belong to the Lord: the whole world and all that dwells in it.Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of virtue. He himself is the King of Glory.For he has founded it upon the seas, and he has prepared it upon the rivers.Who will ascend to the mountain of the Lord? And who will stand in his holy place?The innocent of hands and the clean of heart, who has not received his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor.
For all that is in the world is the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of a life which is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Let them be confounded and in awe, who pursue my soul. Let them be turned back and be confounded, who think up evil against me.
For my iniquities have walked over my head, and they have been like a heavy burden weighing upon me.
Have confidence in the Lord with all your heart, and do not depend upon your own prudence.In all your ways, consider him, and he himself will direct your steps.
Lord, when will you look down upon me? Restore my soul from before their malice, my only one from before the lions.I will confess to you in a great Church. I will praise you among a weighty people.
But I, like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God unto eternity, and forever and ever.
Will not Zion say that this man and that man were born in her? And the Most High himself has founded her.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not turn away, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and I have assisted you, and the right hand of my just one has upheld you.
A Canticle Psalm. On the day of the Sabbath.For behold your enemies, O Lord, for behold your enemies will perish, and all those who work iniquity will be dispersed.And my horn will be exalted like that of the single-horned beast, and my old age will be exalted in fruitful mercy.And my eye has looked down upon my enemies, and my ear will hear of the malignant rising up against me.The just one will flourish like the palm tree. He will be multiplied like the cedar of Lebanon.Those planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of the house of our God.They will still be multiplied in a fruitful old age, and they will endure well,so that they may announce that the Lord our God is righteous and that there is no iniquity in him.It is good to confess to the Lord and to sing psalms to your name, O Most High:
you are dressed with light like a garment, while you stretch out heaven like a tent.You appointed darkness, and it has become night; all the beasts of the forest will cross through it.The young lions will roar, while searching for and seizing their meal from God.The sun arose, and they were gathered together; and in their dens, they will lie down together.Man will go forth to his work and to his activities, until the evening.How great are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom. The earth has been filled with your possessions.This sea is great and its hands are spacious. There are creeping things without number: the small animals with the great.There, the ships will pass by this sea-serpent that you have formed to mock them.All these expect you to give them food in due time.What you give to them, they will gather. When you open your hand, they will all be filled with goodness.But if you turn your face away, they will be disturbed. You will take away their breath, and they will fail, and they will return to their dust.You cover its heights with water. You set the clouds as your stairs. You walk upon the wings of the winds.You will send forth your Spirit, and they will be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.May the glory of the Lord be for all ages. The Lord will rejoice in his works.He considers the earth, and he makes it tremble. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.I will sing to the Lord with my life. I will sing psalms to my God, as long as I am.May my speech be pleasing to him. Truly, I will take delight in the Lord.Let sinners fade away from the earth, along with the unjust, so that they may not be. Bless the Lord, O my soul.You make your Angels a breath of life, and your ministers a burning fire.
Grant us help from tribulation, for vain is the help of man.In God, we will act virtuously, and he will bring our enemies to nothing.
He has stationed peace at your borders, and he has satisfied you with the fat of the grain.
Would a man be able to conceal fire in his bosom, so that his garments would not burn?Or could he walk over burning coals, so that his feet would not be burned?
It is a luxurious thing, wine, and inebriation is tumultuous. Anyone who is delighted by this will not be wise.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
Just like a city lying in the open and without surrounding walls, so also is a man who is unable to restrain his own spirit in speaking.
The old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we have hoped in you.You have trusted in the Lord for all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever.
It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.The voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.
For I am the Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you: Do not be afraid. I have helped you.
And now thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: Do not be afraid. For I have redeemed you, and I have called you by your name. You are mine.You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and you are my servant, whom I have chosen, so that you may know, and may believe in me, and so that you may understand that I am the same. Before me, there was no god formed, and after me there will be none.I am. I am the Lord. And there is no savior apart from me.I have announced, and I have saved. I have caused it to be heard. And there was no stranger among you. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.And from the beginning, I am the same. And there is no one who can rescue from my hand. I act, and who can turn it aside?Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake, I sent to Babylon, and tore down all their bars, with the Chaldeans who glory in their ships.I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.Thus says the Lord, who gave you a way through the sea and a path through the torrent of waters,who led out the chariot and the horse, the column of robust troops. They went to sleep together, and they will not arise. They have been crushed like flax, and they have been extinguished.You need not call to mind the past, nor consider the things of antiquity.Behold, I am accomplishing new things. And presently, they will spring forth. With certainty, you will know them. I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in an impassible place.When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not cover you. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not scorch you.
I have wiped away your iniquities like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, because I have redeemed you.
But he himself was wounded because of our iniquities. He was bruised because of our wickedness. The discipline of our peace was upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed.
Is not this, instead, the kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those who are broken; and break apart every burden.
Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For you are my praise.
For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.
And I will give to you a new heart, and I will place in you a new spirit. And I will take away the heart of stone from your body, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.And I will place my Spirit in your midst. And I will act so that you may walk in my precepts and keep my judgments, and so that you may fulfill them.
You, my enemy, should not rejoice over me because I have fallen. I will rise up, when I sit in darkness. The Lord is my light.
Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you as well.
Come to me, all you who labor and have been burdened, and I will refresh you.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls."Are you he who is to come, or should we expect another?"For my yoke is sweet and my burden is light."
And he said to her: "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace, and be healed from your wound."
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because of this, he has anointed me. He has sent me to evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of heart,
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
The thief does not come, except so that he may steal and slaughter and destroy. I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.
Jesus said to him: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
Peace I leave for you; my Peace I give to you. Not in the way that the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and let it not fear.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you are able to do nothing.
These things I have spoken to you, so that you may have peace in me. In the world, you will have difficulties. But have confidence: I have overcome the world."
But God demonstrates his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, at the proper time,
For we know this: that our former selves have been crucified together with him, so that the body which is of sin may be destroyed, and moreover, so that we may no longer serve sin.
Therefore, let not sin reign in your mortal body, such that you would obey its desires.Nor should you offer the parts of your body as instruments of iniquity for sin. Instead, offer yourselves to God, as if you were living after death, and offer the parts of your body as instruments of justice for God.
Do you not know to whom you are offering yourselves as servants under obedience? You are the servants of whomever you obey: whether of sin, unto death, or of obedience, unto justice.But thanks be to God that, though you used to be the servants of sin, now you have been obedient from the heart to the very form of the doctrine into which you have been received.And having been freed from sin, we have become servants of justice.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking according to the flesh.But if Christ is within you, then the body is indeed dead, concerning sin, but the spirit truly lives, because of justification.But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead lives within you, then he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also enliven your mortal bodies, by means of his Spirit living within you.Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, so as to live according to the flesh.For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.For all those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.And you have not received, again, a spirit of servitude in fear, but you have received the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in whom we cry out: "Abba, Father!"For the Spirit himself renders testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God.But if we are sons, then we are also heirs: certainly heirs of God, but also co-heirs with Christ, yet in such a way that, if we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him.For I consider that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with that future glory which shall be revealed in us.For the anticipation of the creature anticipates the revelation of the sons of God.For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death.
But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead lives within you, then he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also enliven your mortal bodies, by means of his Spirit living within you.
And we know that, for those who love God, all things work together unto good, for those who, in accordance with his purpose, are called to be saints.
And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.loving one another with fraternal charity, surpassing one another in honor:in solicitude, not lazy; in spirit, fervent; serving the Lord;in hope, rejoicing; in tribulation, enduring; in prayer, ever-willing;in the difficulties of the saints, sharing; in hospitality, attentive.Bless those who are persecuting you: bless, and do not curse.Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Weep with those who are weeping.Be of the same mind toward one another: not savoring what is exalted, but consenting in humility. Do not choose to seem wise to yourself.Render to no one harm for harm. Provide good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men.If it is possible, in so far as you are able, be at peace with all men.Do not defend yourselves, dearest ones. Instead, step aside from wrath. For it is written: "Vengeance is mine. I shall give retribution, says the Lord."And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.
The night has passed, and the day draws near. Therefore, let us cast aside the works of darkness, and be clothed with the armor of light.Let us walk honestly, as in the daylight, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and sexual immorality, not in contention and envy.Instead, be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in its desires.
Or do you not know that your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?Or do you not know that the saints from this age shall judge it? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy, then, to judge even the smallest matters?For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify and carry God in your body.
And what consensus does the temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, just as God says: "I will dwell with them, and I will walk among them. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.Because of this, you must depart from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean.Then I will accept you. And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh.For the weapons of our battles are not carnal, yet still they are powerful with God, unto the destruction of fortifications: tearing down every counseland height that extols itself contrary to the wisdom of God, and leading every intellect into the captivity of obedience to Christ,
I live; yet now, it is not I, but truly Christ, who lives in me. And though I live now in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and who delivered himself for me.
So then, I say: Walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest; they are: fornication, lust, homosexuality, self-indulgence,Behold, I, Paul, say to you, that if you have been circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.the serving of idols, drug use, hostility, contentiousness, jealousy, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, divisions,envy, murder, inebriation, carousing, and similar things. About these things, I continue to preach to you, as I have preached to you: that those who act in this way shall not obtain the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance,meekness, faith, modesty, abstinence, chastity. There is no law against such things.
to set aside your earlier behavior, the former man, who was corrupted, by means of desire, unto error,and so be renewed in the spirit of your mind,and so put on the new man, who, in accord with God, is created in justice and in the holiness of truth.
For you were darkness, in times past, but now you are light, in the Lord. So then, walk as sons of the light.
And do not choose to be inebriated by wine, for this is self-indulgence. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
Concerning the rest, brothers, be strengthened in the Lord, by the power of his virtue.Be clothed in the armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the treachery of the devil.
I am confident of this very thing: that he who has begun this good work in you will perfect it, unto the day of Christ Jesus.
For it is God who works in you, both so as to choose, and so as to act, in accord with his good will.
Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these.
For he has rescued us from the power of darkness, and he has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.
Therefore, mortify your body, while it is upon the earth. For because of fornication, impurity, lust, evil desires, and avarice, which are a kind of service to idols,
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication,that each one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor,
Therefore, let us not sleep, as the rest do. Instead, we should be vigilant and sober.For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are inebriated, are inebriated in the night.But we, who are of the daylight, should be sober, being clothed with the breastplate of faith and of charity and having, as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
Abstain from every kind of evil.And may the God of peace himself sanctify you through all things, so that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved without blame unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue, and of love, and of self-restraint.
So then, flee from the desires of your youth, yet truly, pursue justice, faith, hope, charity, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.
instructing us to reject impiety and worldly desires, so that we may live soberly and justly and piously in this age,
For in as much as he himself has suffered and has been tempted, he also is able to assist those who are tempted.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to have compassion on our infirmities, but rather one who was tempted in all things, just as we are, yet without sin.Therefore, let us go forth with confidence toward the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy, and find grace, in a helpful time.
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope, without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
Furthermore, since we also have so great a cloud of witnesses over us, let us set aside every burden and sin which may surround us, and advance, through patience, to the struggle offered to us.And indeed, for a few days and according to their own wishes, they instructed us. But he does so to our benefit, so that we may receive his sanctification.Now every discipline, in the present time, does not seem a gladness, of course, but a grief. But afterwards, it will repay a most peaceful fruit of justice to those who become trained in it.Because of this, lift up your lazy hands and your lax knees,and straighten the path of your feet, so that no one, being lame, may wander astray, but instead may be healed.Pursue peace with everyone. Pursue sanctity, without which no one shall see God.Be contemplative, lest anyone lack the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness spring up and impede you, and by it, many might be defiled,lest any fornicator or worldly person be like Esau, who, for the sake of one meal, sold his birthright.For you know that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected. For he found no place for repentance, even though he had sought it with tears.But you have not drawn near to a tangible mountain, or a burning fire, or a whirlwind, or a mist, or a storm,or the sound of a trumpet, or a voice of words. Those who had experienced these things excused themselves, lest the Word be spoken to them.Let us gaze upon Jesus, as the Author and the completion of our faith, who, having joy laid out before him, endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.
But if anyone among you is in need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly to all without reproach, and it shall be given to him.
Blessed is the man who suffers temptation. For when he has been proven, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.
No one should say, when he is tempted, that he was tempted by God. For God does not entice toward evils, and he himself tempts no one.Yet truly, each one is tempted by his own desires, having been enticed and drawn away.Thereafter, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. Yet truly sin, when it has been consummated, produces death.
For this reason, gird the waist of your mind, be sober, and hope perfectly in the grace that is offered to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ.Be like sons of obedience, not conforming to the desires of your former ignorance,but in accord with him who has called you: the Holy One. And in every behavior, you yourself must be holy,for it is written: "You shall be holy, for I am Holy."
Be sober and vigilant. For your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, traveling around and seeking those whom he might devour.Resist him by being strong in faith, being aware that the same passions afflict those who are your brothers in the world.
If we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.