Any Virtue by itself is an Evil!

The David Alliance 

TDAgiantSlayer@gmail.com

Garth Heckman

Urge

 

INTRO: Its a strange memory at best: A young man at church - my sister Renee’s friend. HS stud athlete, great looking, always jumping in and out of bed with whomever he could. Now in his early 30’s he came to church and Renee said one night after church… he better hurry up and figure out life - his hair is getting thinner and his glasses are getting thicker. 

Funny, sad, but telling of his life falling apart. He lived his life by his emotions… his “URGES” if you will. 

 

the phrase "a piece of work" originated as a high compliment before evolving over centuries into a sarcastic insult.

The Literary Origin

Its earliest famous usage comes from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (around 1601). In Act II, Scene 2, Prince Hamlet marvels at the creation of humanity:

"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty..."

 

 

 

He’s a piece of work

ISRAELS FIRST KING! 

King Saul had it all but lost his call as a know it all only to fall. 

 

 

Saul’s ultimate downfall was not a lack of talent or opportunity; it was a fundamental flaw in his internal compass. Saul lived a life governed by feelings rather than character.

 

 

Have you ever met someone who lives by their emotions/feelings/the wind?

 

 

I used to say to my boys… “dad is in a bad mood today, so don’t push it”. WHAT I WAS REALLY SAYING WAS DAD IS IN THE FLESH… LIVING BY HIS URGES! 

 

 

 

Romans 8:5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

 

 

 

 

King Saul highlights critical decisions based on fear, jealousy, and impulsivity rather than steadfast character and obedience.

 

 

1 Samuel 13:8-12 (Impatience and Panic): When the prophet Samuel delayed his arrival and the Israelite army began to scatter out of fear, Saul panicked. Instead of trusting God and waiting, his anxiety drove him to unlawfully offer the burnt offering himself.

Emotions make God's Word feel optional rather than authoritative. When feelings become the filter for truth, scripture gets reduced to "does this resonate with me" instead of "is this what God said." Jeremiah 17:9 warns that the heart is deceitful above all things — not evil in a cartoonish sense, but genuinely unreliable as a final authority. A Christian who only obeys when it feels right isn't actually submitted to Christ's lordship; they're submitted to their own emotional state, with God's Word as an occasional consultant rather than the authority.

 

Abortion, adultery, fornication, bitterness, gossip… emotions muddy up the water.

 

Anterior Midcingulate Cortex it behaves like a muscle, shrinking when underused and expanding physically when you engage in effortful, resistance-heavy activities.

 

Anatomy of the aMCC

• The Friction Requirement: The aMCC only grows when you face friction or internal resistance. Pushing through a workout you love doesn't trigger the same growth as forcing yourself to do a workout—or a task—that you genuinely do not want to do

 

 

The Battle of Sarx (The Flesh): Paul describes the "flesh" not merely as the physical body, but as the path of least resistance—primal drives, comfort-seeking, and self-preservation. 

 

The body only wants to eat, sleep be tickled and have sex! 

 

 

In Galatians 5:17, he notes: "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other." The subjective internal friction you feel when forcing yourself to do a hard task is the exact experiential battleground Paul describes.

Mortification (Nekroo): In Colossians 3:5 and Romans 8:13, the New Testament commands believers to "put to death" or "mortify" lower impulses. This is not a passive event; it is an active, effortful override of natural inclination—the exact stimulus that drives aMCC hypertrophy.

 

 

How do you put to death the desires of the flesh?

Lets put this misconception to bed for good!

You do the opposite of the flesh according to scripture.

 

 

 

1 Samuel 14:24, 43-44 (Rashness and Impulsivity): Driven by the heat of battle, Saul made a foolish, impulsive oath binding his army to fast until evening. This emotional decision left his men exhausted and nearly resulted in the execution of his own son, Jonathan, who had unknowingly eaten honey.

 

Emotional highs get mistaken for spiritual maturity. Feeling moved during worship, feeling peace after a decision, feeling conviction in the moment — these can be real and God-given, but they can also be manufactured by music, social pressure, or just brain chemistry. The danger is building a faith that needs a constant emotional high to feel "real," which sets people up to crash hard when the feelings fade — and many walk away from faith entirely when the emotional experience stops delivering, mistaking the absence of feeling for the absence of God.

 

**When emotions supersede logic or common sense, they will typically supersede Gods best as well.

 

 

MANY/MOST times God will ask you to do something that goes against your emotions! 

 

1 Samuel 15:24 (Fear of Man over Integrity): After failing to completely destroy the Amalekites as God commanded, Saul shifted the blame. He finally confessed to Samuel that his lack of character stemmed from insecurity, stating: "I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.”

Remember… He’s the King! And he is afraid of the men?

It makes obedience conditional instead of covenantal. 

Abraham didn't feel like sacrificing Isaac. 

Jesus, didn't feel like going to the cross — 

 

Obeying when you feel like it is not obedience its convenience! 

 

men: leading a family, staying faithful in a hard marriage, disciplining kids, showing up to serve when you're exhausted — none of that runs on feelings. It runs on covenant commitment that outlasts emotion.

 

*If I win the lottery I will definitely tithe and even give more than 10%. 

NOPE! If you can’t give $10 out of $100 you won’t give 1 Million out of 100 Million. 

 

 

1 Samuel 18:10-11 (Uncontrolled Rage): Saul’s jealousy quickly escalated into murderous anger. While David was playing the lyre to soothe him, Saul was overcome by an evil spirit and his own rage, throwing his spear at David twice in an attempt to pin him to the wall.

 

Emotional volatility becomes a discipleship excuse instead of a growth area. 

"I just felt led" or 

"I couldn't help how I reacted" 

“We are in Love”. 

“She started it”.

“It was Tuesday” 

 

The flesh wether in a high or a low is meant to be cultivated by the fruits of the Spirit! 

 

I love what Socrates said “any virtue in and of itself is a danger, it must be balanced with another virtue.

i.e. if you are generous but do not balance that with wisdom, you will give all your money away and your family will starve. This is what the fruits of the Spirit do for us when in the midst of great emotion.