Vanity. A Deadly Sin in our Modern Society

Vanity. One of the deadliest sins in our modern society

Part of a new series of articles on the Seven Deadly Sins which was covered extensively in an article in the past. This will be looking at and just focusing on each one of these Deadly Sins to reveal what they are all about, how they start, the warning signs, where you could end up and finally how to overcome them in the first place.

Vanity is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the others being Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Greed and Envy. These are also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins. The deadly sins are those behaviors or habits that directly give birth to other immoralities. True Believers are well aware of these, they class them as evil thoughts or spirits that someone needs to overcome and are equipped to recognise and overcome them. The problem is most normal people are not aware of these Sins, or they are aware and choose to not be aware. Either that or they think that Sin dates back to the Victorian Era and doesn´t apply to modern day society. If everybody else is doing it, surely in this modern day and age it must be OK....right? You may want to think again!



These sins take the form of abuses or excessive versions of a persons natural faculties, desires or passions. Gluttony would be a prime example, which abuses someones desire to eat and takes eating to excess.

Pride or Vanity is one of the most subtle of the deadly sins and is a sly one and will creep into your life whilst you are unawares. It will gradually increase it's presence over time, until one day you realise you have a major problem and your life is starting to go off the rails, by then it is too late.......the damage has been done.

The biggest culprits of the Sin of Vanity I would say are Beauty and Fashion and their associated industries. Both will do the same thing, bring you admiring glances and fuel your ego and give you that initial buzz, but over time if you are not careful you are walking on a trapeze wire without a safety net and you could fall.The initial buzz just like crack cocaine never lasts and you end up coming back for more and increasing quantities of it or stronger versions  to get the same kick. You end up in a vicious cycle of Buzz, Guilt and Depression, Buzz, Guilt and Depression. This is a never ending cycle that takes you into a downward spiral which eventually leads you to a very dark place and trust me I have been there. All Sin does this.

So how does the Sin of Vanity apply in our modern day and age and how does it all start. Beauty and Fashion are good examples to demonstrate this. There is no harm in wanting to look good and wearing some makeup and looking your best. This is normal everyday life, but when your desires start to take over and it becomes an obsession and starts taking over your life and you start pursuing some media created dream this is where the problems start. Celebrities and the "Industry" perpetuate this airbrush driven impossible to attain look but people want to look like this and they will give all their money if that´s what it takes.

Vanity Example 1 Designer Brands
Images are everywhere of women that are an impossible Size 6 or 8 when the average woman on the street is probably a size 14. We see music videos with people covered in tattoos and we want to be the same. We can´t afford the Gucci, Prada, Burberry and Dolce and Gabana but we want those things and are pressurised by the constant barrage of adverts saying if you don´t have these things, you are missing out on some sort of exclusive party or club. These designer stores are all too willing to give you a store card or take your credit card. You get that initial buzz, you will get the envious looks, soon though it wears off or goes out of fashion. So you go back and buy more, you no longer shop at the major High Street Chains and eventually your credit card or store card gets tapped out. You ask for an increase on your limit, you get it.... and you get your fix again only to be tapped out again and it dawns on you that maybe you have a problem and some form of addiction is in your life. You cannot make the repayments and reality has kicked in....but it´s too late.

Vanity Example 2  Selfieville
Social Media is another example with Instagram and You Tube being the main candidates. Instagram is the poseur website of choice and is a Vanity playground waiting to leap onto you and take over your life if you are not careful.. It's the likes system that generates this wander down the road into the world of Vanity and Sin. Once you are on this road you are not aware you are on it, it will start making you do things you wouldn´t normally do just to get those extra likes and feeling of web fame. You continue to take more and more extreme measures to climb up the ranks of selfiedom to become a selfie guru that everybody aspires too but you realise that every waking hour is taken up to achieve that status and it dawns on you, that you have no life but you can´t give the fame up, by then you realise you have a problem but then again it´s too late.

Vanity Example 3 Extreme Beauty Techniques
Another example of beauty is anti ageing creams or using more and more makeup to paper over the cracks as you get older. After a while you realise you can´t fool people anymore with these techniques so you opt for minor surgery or Botox. The celebrities do it so why can´t I, you think. The difference is staggering and the first few months things are great and everybody says how young you look and you are on what you think is a permanent high, but the ageing signs start to creep back, the buzz wears off, so you go back for a "touch up"..it works but again only last 3--4 months...you go back again. This time the surgery and botox are not minor but are the next level up to bring you back to where you were before. The minor surgery was 1000. This surgery is now up to 5000. You pay the money and sell the car and decide to use public transport. You look great again although you notice you have a permanent grin on your face like the Joker out of Batman, you can´t frown but who cares, you are buzzing and are on a high again. 6 months to a year later the effects wear off again, you are back to where you were before maybe worse. To bring back those looks that you had before, again you are told you would need major surgery and a facelift. Cost 10000. You go away and think about it. You remortgage the house and go for it. I could go on here but you can see where this is heading. A massive Pop Icon that died recently went down this route and this is a prime example where Vanity can lead you. To a very dark place indeed.

Vanity Example 4  The Makeup Slave
Makeup in general is another example. Once you have worn it you cannot go back and from that day forward at least half an hour to 40 minutes everyday for the rest of your life is involved in getting your face on before you can even leave the house. Again it´s not just the time but the money involved can be another issue once you start going down that designer/top brand miracle beauty route.

Vanity Example 5 The Gym Slave
Another example is Body Building. You start off wanting to enhance what you have, get a six pack, bulging biceps. You get the look after a lot of hard work then think maybe lets take this too the next level after looking at those Body Building Mags and want to look like Vin Diesel. You know where this one is heading with high protein powders, chemicals and the rest. You realise that once you have this look you are stuck with a punishing workout regime at the gym EVERY DAY...once you stop the look starts to fade.

Vanity Example 6 The Tech Image Slave
Vanity can express itself in materialism and can spill over into one of the other deadly sins called Greed. Examples would be wanting the latest tech gadget to improve your image and how people perceive who you are. Wanting the top of the range and latest Iphone or Samsung mobile would be another example. He or she has the Samsung S7 ultra cool with tungsten casing......he/she must be cool? You can´t really afford but you sign the 24 month contract and the first couple of months everybody goes wow but then the next phone comes out the Samsung S7X, this one is totally off the scale awesome and makes your S7 Ultra Cool look prehistoric and ultra not so cool. What to do..... with still 20 months to go on the contract.....again you can see where this is heading.

The Analysis

People who end up going down this road normally have a hole in their life which they are desperately trying to fill. You can temporarily fill it with these things and with the accompanying buzz that these things will definitely bring but just like with drugs or alcohol you will end up back where you started and that hole returns and I would say bigger than before. So you rinse and repeat and rinse and repeat. This in Christian circles is called being a "Slave to Sin" and you are on the Buzz, Guilt, Depression, Hole cycle. All sin works this way regardless of what it is. It´s pure evil plain and simple, but people don´t see it when they are caught in this vicious cycle and because everybody else is doing it............it must be alright?

Personally I have many experiences with Vanity from other people whilst doing Street Style Photography which is a form of Raw Fashion Photography, been to many of the London Fashion Week Events and also photographed many celebrities (mainly the women) over the years and you see Vanity staring you straight in the face everytime. The term "Fashion Victim" is a very real one.

So what´s the answer?
If you are a non believer, then there is no answer if you continue in disbelief. You will keep seeing adverts on TV, in magazines, in the papers on the web and you will always succumb to media or peer pressure and cave in to your desire (that wouldn´t have been there before without the media). One thing I´ve noticed with vanity is most of these things costs a lot of money to buy but once you have had them a couple of years they are practically worthless. If they have no value after a couple of years what does that tell you about that item..........it had no value in the first place.

So what can you do. Turn off the TV, PC, Laptop, Tablet and Phone, don´t walk past the Apple store, scrap reading magazines and newspapers, look at the floor when you see that Samsung S7X billboard, don´t look at bus sides, stay away from department stores? You could try, but the media and advertising is so pervasive in our society it´s almost impossible. What do you do when a close friend has the Samsung S7X? Check my advice in the video above, that would at least be a start.

I´ve worked in Fashion, The Media and in The Celebrity Game and seen Vanity at work. The colours, the music thumping, the adrenaline, the free samples, the free bubbly and brochures, the go on try it on, the come in and join the party mentality, the EXPRESS yourself mentality and don´t do boring, the in your face beauty............that´s how it all starts. But what they don´t tell you is where it all leads, if you are not careful and what it´s like when you fall off that trapeze. They don´t mention, anorexia, bulimia, psychological disorders, financial problems, drug habits and the rest. That´s all kept quiet.

There is only one answer that gives you the power and the ability to see Vanity as the sin that it really is and avoid walking that trapeze without a safety net, otherwise you are running blind with no hope of ever overcoming it, because you are spiritually blind you cannot see that you are indulging in it in the first place. Judge people by their inner appearance, not the outer and that will stand you well in this life. Proverbs 31:30 - Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

More Bible Quotes:

Psalms 119:37 - Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

1 Samuel 16:7 - But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Jeremiah 4:30 - And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

Ecclesiastes 2:11 - Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

2 Peter 2:18
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

Job 15:31
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

Psalms 144:4
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

Ecclesiastes 2:26
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Death by Selfie. The dark and disturbing new trend?

The Death by Selfie is a recent phenomenon made popular by Social Media such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. On the surface a Selfie is just a bit of innocent fun, but does it have a darker side that initially does not make itself known, but creeps up on you in the more advanced stages of the "Selfie Habit". What on earth does this have to do with "End Times"? It has a lot to do with End Times as will be revealed.

The reason for this article are the two featured photos in what can only be described as disturbing pictures, the one above which was taken moments before her death, these people were very young. I have to say they shook me up a bit, they have a haunting quality about them and sum up quite succinctly where this world is heading.....as in off a cliff. This by any stretch of the imagination cannot be classed as "normal" behaviour? This article is also a continuation on from "The Seven Deadly Sins" article and will illustrate quite strongly that taking a Selfie is a Sin which has consequences. As the Bible says "the wages of sin are death".


We will take a look at why Selfies are a Sin and the warning signs that you may be on the same road as some of these victims of Narcissism. Sin is a small word, one of the smallest but is one the biggest in consequences.

What is the dictionary definition of the Selfie
Selfie is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website".as at 19 Nov 2013

Selfie you could say is derived from the word "Selfish" which plays into one of the 7 Deadly Sins which is Pride or often known as Vanity, the sub part of it and the very root of Selfies would be Narcissism. But hey "Sin" is nothing to worry about these days, we´re not living in those old biblical times anymore. We live in modern liberal times where anything goes right? You think.....read on

[caption id="attachment_1130" align="aligncenter" width="680"] The disturbing new trend of Extreme Selfies in the name of social media fame[/caption]

What is Narcissism?
According to Wikipedia "Narcissism is the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. The term originated from Greek mythology, where the young Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water".

Narcissism is a sub set part of "Pride and Vanity" and is the deadliest of the lot and most destructive. Why, because it can lead to one or all of the other 6 deadly sins.

So what is the problem with taking a Selfie?
The actual taking of a normal selfie is not the problem but it is the beginning. As with all Sin it starts with an innocent play around or try of something which then becomes a habit, then an addiction which takes over your life and eventually that persons life is affected adversely to such an extent that they become a slave to it,........ ultimately it can lead in extreme cases to death as the Bible says.

In relation to Selfies, taking a picture of yourself and putting it on a Social Media website in itself is a fairly harmless past time but it is where it can lead to, as in darker places. The real issue is this, the person concerned is not even aware that they are heading down this dark road or that this process is happening. That`s the danger.

So what are the darker places?
Vanity can be a destructive force, but it is a crafty one, but just like say "drug addiction" it can creep up on you unawares and gradually seep into your life in ever increasing strength. To get the same buzz you have to take or do stronger versions and things can escalate and get out of control without you being aware.

The actual picture taking in a normal situation that does not involve putting your life on the line is not the problem it is where the photo goes....that is the problem. The root of all this narcissistic behaviour is social media.

As everybody is aware Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and other social media websites have "Like" and "Share" buttons. The more popular and shared a picture is the higher the Like and Share numbers are. And this is where the problem lies and is the root of this modern day Selfie Culture narcissistic behaviour.

Scenario 1
Girl takes normal selfie puts on Instagram, it gets 20 likes in 1 day. Looks at other girls of similar appearance and sees 1,000, 2,000 and 1,500 likes in one day. How does that girl feel about herself after comparing herself with other Instagram Accounts. She is a bit "chubby" and the other girls are slim so she decides to go on a crash diet within weeks she is on 800 likes on her photos per day. She diets further starving herself for days at a time she is now up there in the 1,500-2000 likes a day. You know here this is heading!

Scenario 2
A rooftop selfie expert has thousands of followers viewing his photos of him taking selfies whilst drunk on the roof of houses in London with the London skyline as a backdrop. He has noticed recently though that the likes have dropped from an average of 3,000 per photo down to 2,200 per photo per day. He decides to really up the stakes and start taking photos from office block rooftops that have better views, after "having a few beers". His likes per photo skyrocket into the tens of thousands and his follower count jumps up in tandem, he is in heaven? He decides to take the ultimate Selfie from the roof of the Shard with a beer in one hand and without any safety harness. You know where this is leading

Scenario 3
An attractive model posts photos of herself regularly and gets on average 1,000 likes per day but has noticed some of her competitors get double this amount but she is fully clothed and they are in bikinis. She decides to try a bikini selfie and her likes skyrocket and she is now level with her other model counterparts. She decides to take things to the next level to show these other models "who´s the boss". We all know the path she is walking down here.

Scenario 4
An activist selfie expert who enjoys taking selfies in the middle of demonstrations and riots gets a lot of views and likes on his selfies but the likes have reached a peak in recent months as other copycats have started to appear and he is wondering how to increase his following and likes, so decides to go to the more extreme riots where guns, grenades and other weapons are being used and more danger is present and the risk of death is very near. Likes increase dramatically. The outcome of this course eventually is clear.

A Personal Story and Experience
I can give loads of other scenarios or examples but here is one I had a personal experience with when I was in the Celebrity Photography game. I had lots of contact with fans and autograph hunters and dealers and knew the lengths they went to to get those autographs and selfies. You just would not believe.

One such autograph hunter and selfie addict tipped yours truly off on a new Fashion store opening in Mayfair. So I went along with him as it was quiet that day, just managed to get a couple of shots of a new emerging star in Leicester Square and that was it. There was the possibility of some big name fashion type such as Kate Moss, Cara Delevigne and Stella McCartney amongst others turning up at this thing. Arrived about 7pm, had been out since 7am. After about 2 hours at this event it was pretty much apparent that nobody of any consequence was going to turn up, even the Security staff hinted that nobody of any importance was going to be there. So 9pm I packed my camera away and called it a day. At that exact moment a chauffeured Bentley or similar turned up and my selfie friend said "get your camera out quick that could be Kate Moss" I turned round and said "No, I`m going home it takes 3 hours to get back and I have to be up in the morning at 5am" He looked at me as if I was mad and I turned round and said these words "My Friend, I´m going home, I really could not care less who is in that car. Don´t let these people take over your life....they will not show any appreciation or thank you for it" He looked at me in shock, it hit home pretty hard. Saw him the next day he said he stayed till 1 or 2 in the morning, saw nothing let alone got a selfie and slept on a park bench in Central London. He looked liked he had not washed or anything. He could not see he had a problem. Luckily I saw the light and packed in Celebrity Photography about a month or two later.

Here is an interesting fact. In August 2014, selfie was officially accepted for use in the word game Scrabble!

Selfie related deaths seems to be on the rise. A recent article from Pricenomics says there has been 49 Selfie related deaths since March 2014. The Telegraph wrote that, in 2015, more people were killed taking selfies than by shark attacks although this is under debate.

The article has a good quote that highlights the general way that Selfie Culture is heading

"It's all about me. It's putting me in the frame. I'm getting attention and when I post that to social media, I'm getting the confirmation that I need from other people that I'm awesome," says lead researcher Jesse Fox. "You're not thinking about the consequences of your actions, so who cares if you're dangling off the side of the Eiffel Tower?" Extract From Pricenomics




Words and feelings associated with Selfies
Take a look at some of the words associated with Selfies. Would you regard these good or evil traits?

Betrayal Boasting Egocentrism Egotism Empathy (lack of) Envy Fantasy Grandiosity Hubris Magical thinking Manipulative Narcissistic abuse Narcissistic elation Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury Narcissistic mortification Narcissistic supply Narcissistic withdrawal Perfectionism Self-esteem Self-righteousness Shamelessness Superficial charm Superiority complex True self and false self Vanity

Real Life Examples of Selfie Death
Here´s some real examples not fictitious scenarios of Selfie´s taken to the extreme that have resulted in deaths all in the name of Vanity one of the "seven Deadly Sins".


Presumed unloaded gun kills person taking Selfie
The most recent selfie-related death involved a Washington State man who shot himself in the face with a gun while taking a selfie. The Concrete, Wash. resident was with his girlfriend at the time, and she said he believed the weapon was unloaded. via Time

Accidental Explosion
Two Russian soldiers in the Urals region west of Siberia were posing for a selfie with a live grenade. The handheld explosive detonated unexpectedly and, going off in their faces. Only the phone with the photo survived. via Rolling Stone


Romanian Girl loses life after getting electrocuted on train roof
A teenage Romanian girl had attempted to take the special selfie on top of a train in the northern town of Iasi, Romania. According to a friend, 18-year-old Anna Urso was planning to post this "ultimate selfie" on Facebook. Urso decided to lie down on the roof of the stationary train car, but when she reached up with one of her legs to pose, but she hit an overhead live wire that shocked her with 27,000 volts. via Rolling Stone


Polish man and woman die taking Selfie on Portugeses Cliff while children watch
A Polish man and woman taking selfies at the cliffs of Cabo Da Roca in Portugal on Saturday fell to their deaths. According to investigators, the couple had been taking photos of themselves when they fell down a cliff and into the Atlantic Ocean, via Washington Post


Summary
On the surface we are living in a world where it could be said we literally have "never had it so good". BUT after reading all this, it becomes pretty clear there are some worrying underlying trends that are emerging that have one or more of the "7 Deadly Sins" woven into their very roots. These sins are as relevant today as they were back in Biblical Times. We are living in an increasingly crazy and narcissistic society full of Pride, Arrogance and Vanity being the main drivers, a symptom of the End Times we are living in and Death by Selfie is one of those symptoms. These things on their own are not desirable traits, but it´s where they lead is the disturbing problem and it´s all being driven by the social media explosion we are witnessing around the globe.

If people start to take a selfie while walking in front of a moving train, hanging thousands of feet off the ground from a skyscraper, or handling an actual live grenade, and somehow...... you end up dead, you have got to ask yourself 1. Is this normal behaviour? and 2. What is happening to our world?

The problem is it is "the nature of the beast" in that once people see Selfies that are extreme in nature to get those into orbit views and likes you have to do the same otherwise your normal selfies are a bit "old school" and don´t "cut it" as they used to. That´s the inner workings of the mind of a Selfie Addict.

Personally as followers of this website will know, I have a number of Twitter accounts of which The Twelve Gates @ThatFJ is the biggest one. This account currently has over 16K followers, which is nice but the numbers even now go up and down like a yo yo. Put the wrong tweet out and see the follower count drop, put a good tweet out and watch it go into orbit. Do I lose any sleep about the numbers? Not really which is probably the secret to that accounts success,

I could instead of Tweeting every 2 or 3 hours via laptop and occasionally mobile, tweet every half hour or even every ten minutes and be right on top of the news as it happens and watch the follower count and retweets sky rocket. In reality I tweet what needs to be said and the truth rather than tweeting what people want to hear as it happens within a nano second. I could put pictures of me with the Archbishop of Canterbury or get a Selfie with Theresa May or some major celebrity and the follower count would go into orbit as well, but I know where that would lead and the original purpose of The Twelve Gates Twitter and this website would have been lost in the sake of coolness and vanity and a few extra likes and followers.

Should people stop taking selfies. Of course not, selfies down the pub or a nightclub or on holiday or anything else that is not putting your life at risk is normal behaviour. The problem is when it starts taking over your life to the exclusion of everything else and is leading you to a dark place and becoming an addiction.........that where the real problem lies.

This article is therefore a warning of the evils of this world that are out there. Evil is crafty, seductive and enticing and entices you with "Sin", and as you can see Sin is a dangerous word and not a thing to be messed with. The journey all starts innocently but at the other end in extreme cases can lead to the loss of life!

Bible Quotes

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 3:8
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Proverbs 31:30 - Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Psalms 119:37 - Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; [and] quicken thou me in thy way.

1 Samuel 16:7 - But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Ecclesiastes 2:11 - Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun.

Matthew 16:26 - For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Proverbs 18:12 - Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour [is] humility.

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

The Seven Deadly Sins in modern times?

The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins also known as "Capital Vices" or "Cardinal Sins" are Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth. They are the exact opposite of the "Seven Heavenly Virtues" of faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance and prudence. These 7 sins are often thought to be abuses or excessive versions of somebodies natural faculties or passions.

This article looks at the emotional problems faced by modern men and women and the temptations that are out there in the modern world . Whether you are a believer or an agnostic this article will see how sin manifests itself in our modern times and society and more importantly is it something to worry about and what can be done to overcome it.

The Seven Deadly sins are a list just like the Ten Commandments but nowhere are they recorded in a list like this and nowhere in the Bible are they specifically referred to as the seven deadly sins or as the exact opposite as the seven virtues. The Seven Deadly Sins do not pre date the Ten Commandments. Catholicism seems to teach this listing of sins it appears in Protestantism less so. I'm not a Catholic by the way!

A video that gives a quick explanation of what are "The Seven Deadly Sins?" in non religious laymans terms

Fashion and Beauty and the Deadly Sin of Vanity



Are we powerless to resist sin?
Sin doesn’t just happen. First there is temptation, and then there is a choice.All sins have a common characteristic in that they produce an emotional reaction that impacts the body. A person experiencing for example anger will also experience physical conditions, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. The modern day word used to describe this state is a "Buzz" or "High". Interestingly enough Drugs, Alcohol and Promiscuous sex such as Rape and Adultery and Pornography can produce these sensations along with Winning at gambling or even Rebelling.

All sin has the same qualities it produces a short term buzz. It's addictive but the long term effects are devastating, destroy the soul and ultimately destroy lives and relationships. Sin never satisifies. You always crave for more and a stronger version of what you had before, you become a slave to it and it takes over your life and often you are not aware that this is happening but others around you notice and may bring it to your attention, but you carry on regardless laughing it off. Eventually it destroys lives and can lead to loss of a job or business, homelessness, imprisonment, destruction of a marriage or family and even a long term illness or even death. What starts as "just a bit of innocent fun" ends up destroying a persons life. Believe me I've been there. See my Testimonial.

The Film Se7en (1995)
A video below of a Trailer for the Film Se7en which was released in 1995. The film itself is a stomach churner to say the least especially the ending but the message is very clear and relevant to our modern day society. This film initially gets you siding with the police in finding this psychopath that is committing these atrocities but when the film finishes and a day or so later it dawns on you that this man as sick as he was, he was trying to tell and show the world all it's sins in all their gory detail. He knew that the only way to get such a message across is to hit people over the head with a sledge hammer, otherwise people don't take any notice. You could say in true Christian faith style he sacrifices his life for what he believes in. (we never do find out whether he is a Christian or not). It's a recommended film but keep a bucket handy. don't say you haven't been warned!



The Seven Deadly Sins According to the Bible
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief. A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
(Proverbs 6:16-19).

Extra sins including some of the before mentioned

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,lasciviousness,Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21


The Seven Deadly Sins

PRIDE or Vanity
It was Pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. - St. Augustine

The sin of pride is a preoccupation with self. Pride is excessive belief in the self that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity. There is a fine line between self confidence with a sense of accomplishment, and thinking you are better than everyone else around you because of that. It is the gateway through all other sin enters the mortal soul. This is how Lucifer became the fallen Angel as illustrated in the Bible quote below from Isiaih.



How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isiaih 14:12-15

The modern day equivalent of Vanity and Pride as a Sin would be the world of Celebrity. It is an example of something that makes old fashioned sin look good and flaunts itself and influences our society in many ways but the devastating results of sin are all prevalent in the celebrity world and prove that Pride is the gateway to all other sins listed below. The Illuminati in the Entertainment Industry sheds further light on this topic

Further Bible Quotes
Proverbs 16:5 - Every one [that is] proud in heart [is] an abomination to the LORD: [though] hand [join] in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Proverbs 29:23 - A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Galatians 6:3 - For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

ENVY

Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.Envy is like a parasite. Of all the seven deadly sins, envy is the most internally destructive. It will eat away at you until there is nothing left but a shell. You get what you think you want, but that want is not from desire. Envy is the double edged sword where it is not just about hating other people for what they have. It is also hating yourself for not having it. Modern day society places great emphasis on material possessions and the marketing machine surrounding this including the media creates plays on Envy in our society, which is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, it's the very mechanism that generates sales in our Western Society

Bible Quotes
Job 5:2
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

Proverbs 14:30
A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

GLUTTONY

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires. Gluttony is the consumption in excess to the point of being wasteful. To the point of being harmful. This can be food, it can be water, it can be fuel, it can be alcohol it can be drugs . It can be anything. Examples in our modern day world would include, overeating
such as Buffets - all you can eat, Over indulgence, drug abuse and drug addiction(marijuana, alcohol, nicotine, crack, cocaine, etc.)

Proverbs 23:20-21 - "Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."

Proverbs 25:16 - "Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it."

LUST

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body. Lust is an addiction. Lust is a desire that objectives others into tools for achieving that desire. Lust can be for power, for knowledge, for money, for blood, for alcohol, for drugs, for sex, for pleasure for anything. Modern day society confuses lust such as Adultery and Rape with love with devastating consequences. Lust is the trail of clothing in the hallway, the trashy cousin of love.

Further examples include Sexual lust, Lust for money, Lust for power, Lust for glory, Extreme passion for another person, Strong attraction to a celebrity, Sudden uncontrollable sexual attraction. Lust in our modern days can take many forms here are some examples
1. Lustful murder is extinction of a life by another's sexual fantasies
2. Rape is Forced genital penetration
3. Pedosexuality is sexual attraction towards children
4. Zoosexuality is sexual attraction towards animals
5. Sexual Assault is unwanted groping, unwanted flashing, or forced sexual arousal by another entity
6. Fornication is sex outside marriage
7. Exhibitionism is seduction outside the privacy of home or living quarters
8. Sexual Objectification viewing another living being as an object of sexual pleasure,
-watching Pornography
-hiring Prostitutute - Buying sexual services for money
-going to a strip club
9. Homosexuality is sexual attraction towards the same sex

Bible Quotes

Matthew 5:28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

1 John 2:16 - For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Mark 4:19
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Romans 6:12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

WRATH

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath. It is not to be confused with Anger and is not murder. Wrath is blind uncontrollable rage, irrational and blind hate, a lashing out at its target with anything from spiteful words to violence to outright slaughter or murder. Wrath on a global scale is what starts wars and can continue to spawn wars for decades to come. Examples of wrath can be Domestic violence, War and Speech promoting violence

Bible Quotes

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires
James 1:19-20

“In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:26-2

Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
Proverbs 29:11



GREED

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness. Greed can cover the acquisition of power, the obsession over wealth and the accumulation of material possessions. Having these things in their selves is not a sin but having them in excess and just for the self and nobody else and for self gain is a sin. In the corporate world major global corporations are guilty of these and it is evidenced in politics.

Examples in our modern times are many and can include Capitalism where everything has a price, Materialism, Bribery, Fraud, Black Market buying / selling Out of Sight of mainstream society, Slavery (Human Trafficking) -Prostituting Sexual Objectification of one self to sell sexual services for money and Pornography is filming or photographing of one's sexual activities

Bible Quotes:

1 Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:9 - But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Luke 12:15 - And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.


SLOTH

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. In it's everyday form it can be translated as laziness BUT it can also apply to the following situations. If you see someone getting harassed, do you step in to stop it? If you see someone who is having a hard life, do you try to brighten up their life? If you see something suspicious, do you say something? Or is it none of your business and you turn a blind eye and carry on as normal?. Modern day examples would be the TV Addict and Couch Potato.

Bible Quote:

Proverbs 13:4 - The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Proverbs 21:25 - The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.

Proverbs 20:4 - The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; [therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing.

The Modern Social Sins

1. Destroying the environment
2. genetic manipulation
3. obscene wealth
4. creating poverty
5. drug trafficking
6. immoral scientific experimentation
7 violation of the fundamental rights of human nature

How can you avoid sin and what's the big deal?

Most people think that Sin is freedom to do what you want and forget about the consequences but Sin and the committing of Sin is going against God and his laws and statutes and is punishable in God's eyes in extreme cases just like it was in Sodom and Gomorrah. What if you commit sin in a private darkened room and keep quiet, surely God will not find out? He will. God sees and knows everything and will punish you more for doing so.! Sin is part of the battle of Good V Evil



The cure for these sins is the gift of a new heart that acts in accordance to the love and law of God. This new heart can only come from God.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Humanity's only hope is the miracle of a regenerated heart that acts according to the direction of the Holy Spirit to walk in God’s statutes and judgements.

The only way to achieve the above and avoid sin is to be Born Again and in dwelt by the Holy Spirit. It cannot be done any other way. No matter how hard you try, it's in mans nature to sin that's why Jesus died on the cross.


and in Christ we have victory over the destructive power of sin. (See Romans 6:22 and 8:2.)


How can sin be overcome?
If you are a true born again Christian you will have and be aware of the Seven Heavenly virtues and these are your weapons to overcome sin.

The Seven Heavenly Virtues
1. Kindness = Cures envy by placing the desire to help others above the need to have what other people have
2.Temperance = Cures gluttony by creating the desire to be healthy, therefore making you fit and able to serve others
3. Charity or love = Cures greed by putting the desire to help others in need rather than storing up treasure for one’s self
4. Chastity or Self-control = Cures lust by controlling passion and diverts that energy for the good of others
5. Humility = Cures pride by removing the ego and boastfulness and haughtiness, therefore creating the right attitude of mind for service
6. Diligence or Zeal = Cures slothfulness by placing the best interest of others above the life of laziness and relaxation.
7. Patience = Cures wrath by taking time to understand the needs and desires of others before acting or speaking.

Summary
In this day and age where evil is disguised as good, and good is made to look evil, where lines are being blurred in every aspect of our lives and confusion and chaos reigns, the word sin is looked as something a bit old fashioned and something "of the past" and not really a concern in this modern day and age, it's even paraded round as fun or a pastime to get a few kicks to liven up the day.

The problem is Sin is just as valid as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah as it is today and we all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin is clever, deceitful, divisive and enticing and on the surface it looks a bit of harmless fun but further down the line it takes you to a much darker place and you become a slave to it, whether it be drug addiction, porn addiction, alcoholism........... the problem is you don't even realise you are going there. I would say it's like getting on a roller coaster ride, it's fun initially until you realise you are stuck on this thing and you can't get off. So is Sin something to worry about.......YES it is! Sin is part of the ultimate battle between Good and Evil and why the Seven Deadly Sins are named as such for a reason


Some closing Bible quotes to ponder over regarding Temptation which is what leads to Sin

Keep these truths in mind:
•You will never face a temptation that is impossible to overcome. (See I Corinthians 10:13.)

No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
1 Cor 10:13

•God is eager to give you all the grace you need to reject the temptation. (See Hebrews 4:16.)

Further viewing over at The Twelve Gates You Tube Channel

The Seven Deadly Sins Playlist: 7 videos with further information on each of the Seven Deadly Sins filmed in London