Controlling Factors

As I think more about control I realize that the three root issues (Pride, Greed, and Lust) are just ways of grasping control from God. There is only one sin, disobedience of God which manifests itself in the form of you controlling your life instead of allowing God to control it. However, the ways it manifests itself are in the forms of Pride, Lust, and Greed. Of course, all three may surface for any individual, but usually one is more prevalent than others.

A prideful person is intent on controlling the past - either by reliving it or distancing themselves from it. A prideful person who is happy with their past may attempt to relive it through various means. These are the high-school beauty queens that never stop talking about that great day when they were crowned and how they expect you to bow down to them for it. However, not everyone is happy with their past. A prideful person who is unhappy with their past will do their best to destroy it. They will abandon pictures, change their appearance, distance themselves from friends or family, whatever it takes to start a new life. They will become obsessed with being a new person. However, it is still, fundamentally, the past they are trying to control. They don't realize that God has a plan for them and doesn't care about their past. They don't need to relive or distance themselves from it, because to God it doesn't exist.

A lustful person is intent on controlling the present. We discussed in an earlier blog that lustful people were impulsive and whimsical. They feel that by acquiring things now they will make themselves happy in the present. They are not relying on God to provide for their needs, they are taking matters into their own hands.

A greedy person is intent on controlling the future. They despair and lose hope that the future will be good, so they try random things in order to make it better. At the worst, they end up committing suicide so they don't have to face a future they can't control. They don't realize that God has a plan for them, if they will accept it. They must be patient and open themselves to his Word.

I refined much of this from Ventilation. I believe that I added enough of my own exposition to make it unique, but if not...Sorry!