i cannot imagine the pull of the "tree of good and evil" for eve and adam. i cannot imagine what kind of temptation it had through the serpent. i don't even know if adam and eve knew of the FEAR of the lord, on listening and acting upon the serpent's temptation.

what i do know are my own temptations: temptation to be irritable, temptation to be impatient, temptation to blow-up, temptation to just move on, temptation to do all things ungodly.

david powlison said this:

You have been given God's grace and commanded by your Lord Jesus to give grace to all others. Whether married or single, male or female, child or parent, employee or boss, you live within a mutuality: one church, members of one body, brothers and sisters to one answer. You are a we. You are called to be patient, and constructive in every relationship....[everyone] ought to communicate openly, drawing on each other for help and perspective, seeking to understand and encourage each other, repenting of the sins that interfere. No superiority, no double standards.

this is super hard. It is so unhuman.

yet there are so many bodily references in the bible, among others, in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and in Ephesians 4. it is told again and again that we are one in christ, one in each other, to love and respect and blah blah blah blah blah blah.

this is super duper hard. it is a true challenge.

i just wish that god had provided us with physical stress ball to throw, squeeze, and smash on. ARGH!