Read Proverbs 5:22

What a word picture! 

We usually think of this situation as applicable only to an unbeliever. But it could just as easily be applied to a Christian who deliberately chooses to disobey his Lord. And instead of seeing the error of his way, he stays in a state of carnality, which grieves the Spirit of God living within him. 

Carnality occurs when a believer deliberately operates in the strength of his or her own will...stubbornly refusing to acknowledge wrong and choosing to walk contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The promptings of God's Spirit are ignored as disobedience becomes a lifestyle.

Choosing to live like that is like getting caught in a whirlpool. The wickedness intensifies. It gets more treacherous as he goes deeper into it. Like the prodigal son, he winds up in misery and filth.

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom for the Way (Nashville: J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2001). Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.