Genesis 4:6-9
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
In the example of Cain's sin we see 3 truths:
1) that anger is often a root cause of our sin ("why are you angry?" (verse 6)). In sexual sin this particularly shows up in fantasies about sexual violence and control.
2) that there is a battle going on ("if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it" (verse 7)). There is an external reality to sin/evil that desires to control us, and we must fight back against it.
3) that another root of our sin is selfishness, that does not care about our brothers and sisters ("Am I my brother's keeper?" (verse 9)). Cain did not want to be his brother's keeper, and our sexual sins usually involve us focusing on our desire and reducing others to objects of our desire. But Jesus called us to love our brothers and sisters as we love ourselves.
God, I confess to being self-centered, and then getting angry when I don't get my way. Help me to truly care about others, to love them sacrificially in the same way that you have loved me.
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
In the example of Cain's sin we see 3 truths:
1) that anger is often a root cause of our sin ("why are you angry?" (verse 6)). In sexual sin this particularly shows up in fantasies about sexual violence and control.
2) that there is a battle going on ("if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it" (verse 7)). There is an external reality to sin/evil that desires to control us, and we must fight back against it.
3) that another root of our sin is selfishness, that does not care about our brothers and sisters ("Am I my brother's keeper?" (verse 9)). Cain did not want to be his brother's keeper, and our sexual sins usually involve us focusing on our desire and reducing others to objects of our desire. But Jesus called us to love our brothers and sisters as we love ourselves.
God, I confess to being self-centered, and then getting angry when I don't get my way. Help me to truly care about others, to love them sacrificially in the same way that you have loved me.