C.S Lewis “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.”

Galatians 5:16-18
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

James 4:4-6 ESV
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:7 ESV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:8 ESV
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…

Hebrews 10:32-34 NLT
Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

John Piper
“Do not measure the love of God by how much health, wealth and comfort he brings into your life. If that were the measure of God’s love, He hated the apostle Paul…. Measure God’s love for you by how much of himself he shows you.”

James 4:8-9 ESV
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Matthew 6:2 ESV
Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 16:26 ESV
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Luke 19:45-46 ESV
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

New Bible Commentary
“A large part of the problem is the false trust which the mere possession of the temple and its rituals inspires… the people had persuaded themselves that this amounted to a kind of guarantee of God’s presence and protection.”

Adam Clarke
“The covetous man grasps at the shadow and loses the substance.”

Galatians 5:19-26 ESV
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,^[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do^[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.