(The stuff mentioned below are all entirely my own opinion and does not represent any viewpoint from any mortal person, except for quoted words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs. Ref. the Bible)


"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22

Run, run, run. How tough is it to actually flee from temptation. A lot of times, the temptations are very... tempting (come on! I got no other words for subsitution!). Many people fall to it. Including myself.

A lot of times, I find myself indulging into my various addictions instead of doing other stuff, such as practicing for camp, doing my QT etc. I find myself watching TV or playing online games or others.

These addictions are pulling me. They are dragging me down. I know it. But why can't I get out of it?

Maybe it is because I like doing the stuff so much that I do not want to get out of it. I keep telling myself "Ok, it is time to start revision... But I'll do it tomorrow."

A wise and noble T-shirt quote once said "Procrastinators. The Leaders of Tomorrow." Quite true.

I keep telling myself that I would start my revision etc. the next day. But it never arrives.

The holiday assignments are catching up with me... It is a good thing I finished one of my compos during the Beijing trip... very difficult to write...

When can I actually start on my work? I got a lot to do.

Besides the point... I don't know how to break off from my addictions. I keep getting drawn to their attractive power... and I always let God down by entertaining them.

Addiction List
1. __________________
2. __________________
3. __________________
4. __________________
(and it goes on and on... What? You think that I would actually put it down???)

Anyway... a few of my addictions are causing me to sin. Big time.

A lot of times, I cannot help but feel that I keep disappointing God with my actions. How can God be pleased with me or even accepting me? I keep letting Him down. I let the devil lead me by the nose (figurative...).

2 Timothy 2:22 says to flee from the evil desires of youth, so I suppose God is speaking thru Paul to us. The youth generation today, OUR generation, is under attack by the devil. Pornography, addiction to TV programs, death metal, vulgarities, crude body language, pre-marital sex, smoking, drugs etc.

Be a man after God's heart. That's what parents and preachers say. But they did not say how hard it is. In the second part of the verse, Paul urges Timothy (another fellow apostle) to "pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace". I guess these four virtues are obtainable... but not easy to.

We are youths right now. The adolescent age is where we are at. It is when we transit from child to adult. Our thinking starts to mature and we start to question adults and their decision. We start to think for ourselves. Usually, that is when the danger comes in.

As our mind matures, we start to think more. Remember the time when we were primary school kids we used to loathe the opposite gender? But, when our minds are in the transtition of maturing, they start to come to our radar. We start to look out for the opposite gender, and we try to get close to a particular someone.

This is normal. But some teens think they know a lot and start to suggest... things. They feel that they are already adults and want to try things that only adults should do. That is when the devil will take advantage and exploit.

"... along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22b

What, exactly, is a pure heart?

I have no idea.