"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.
Sin is sin. There's no way to say otherwise. We all end up doing it. Doesn't make it right nor is it justification for our bad behavior. Just saying that none of us are any better than anyone else.
Yet, we make a pecking order for our sins. That one sin is worse than another. Some sins are unforgiveable while others are just omissions or little white lies. Granted, we can all agree that mass murder might be a tad more terrible than say gossiping. There are just some sins which require that the sinner be removed from society for the safety of others. That's how our laws operate and I do not think God frowns on that.
But, no one sin is greater than another, not in God's eyes. What does sin do? It brings separation between us and God. Every single sin does that. Sins of commission or omission. God is holy. He just cannot, in His holiness, ignore sins like we might. That runs counter to His holiness. God is love. He doesn't want us living in our sin, leading to our destruction. As He is love, He does not ignore us or leave us to our devices because we sin. He doesn't say "I've had enough" and turns and walks away from us. He wants us to be healthy, but it doesn't mean He will not deal with our sin.
It's like cancer. A doctor isn't going to ignore a small batch of cancer saying it's just minor. It's only the full blown cases that get his attention. No, they deal with it, even if it's the size of one cell or millions of cells. Just like cancer, sin, left unchecked, spreads as well.
This doesn't mean we live in paranoia assuming God is keeping a running tab of our sins. We will never be perfect and living our lives trying to attain that would be futile. We would live our lives totally stressed trying to avoid sins and keeping our own tabs of sins. This could cause to believe that it will be by our own efforts that we attain heaven. When we fall short, it could lead to despair.
Just because we sin does not give us free reign to continue sinning. That blesses no one. We can't just live for ourselves with the thought that it will take care of itself. That we will have one of those deathbed confessions that will wipe the slate clean in our final moments. None of us know when that time will come so we shouldn't rely on that. As I said, God will deal with our sin when He chooses to. We don't know when. Also, when we sin against others - those people may not appreciate that and respond accordingly. That might not be pleasant either. Besides, that would also be bad evangelism. God is not going to allow us to run amok in our sins. We are not truly repentant if our attitude is we can just sin and then ask for forgiveness and then go ahead and do that again. God is not an insurance policy for our own recklessness. God's forgiveness to us should cause us to reconsider our behavior and just, maybe, change our ways.
The point is that we should not sugarcoat our sins. Like saying we were just joking or that it's not bad as others or other sins. That becomes a slippery slope. Where is the line as to what sins are OK and which one's need forgiveness? We start doing that, it becomes easier and easier to justifying pushing the line further and further. Plus, each person has their own standards. What some might consider a sin another might think otherwise. Let God set the standard. Sin is sin. God wants to deal with it.
Come to the Lord humbly. Acknowledge that we are sinful and ask for His forgiveness. There are many that I commit and don't remember them all. Ask the Lord to forgive you for those as well. Ask Him to bring healing to your hearts. God will deal with them. We can't nor can we cure others of their sinning as well. We just reveal God in our lives and show that to others. Let God do the work. Once repentant and forgiven, try your best not to hold onto it. Your forgiveness of self should not be a higher standard than God's. It's not easy. We can beat ourselves up over our mistakes. We can have long memories. The enemy likes to remind us of them.
It is said that God remembers our sins no more if we are repentant. That means He CHOOSES to not remember them anymore. That He will no longer hold them against us to demean us or as a threat over our heads. Good enough for Him should be good enough for us. Remember that when the devil tries to sow doubt in your hearts.
Sin is no game and shouldn't be taken lightly. Luckily, we serve a loving God who comes to us in those moments. A lot of times we don't go to Him in our sins. Rather, He comes to us in our hurting. He wants us to be healthy and whole, just like any loving parent for their child.
Sin is sin. There's no way to say otherwise. We all end up doing it. Doesn't make it right nor is it justification for our bad behavior. Just saying that none of us are any better than anyone else.
Yet, we make a pecking order for our sins. That one sin is worse than another. Some sins are unforgiveable while others are just omissions or little white lies. Granted, we can all agree that mass murder might be a tad more terrible than say gossiping. There are just some sins which require that the sinner be removed from society for the safety of others. That's how our laws operate and I do not think God frowns on that.
But, no one sin is greater than another, not in God's eyes. What does sin do? It brings separation between us and God. Every single sin does that. Sins of commission or omission. God is holy. He just cannot, in His holiness, ignore sins like we might. That runs counter to His holiness. God is love. He doesn't want us living in our sin, leading to our destruction. As He is love, He does not ignore us or leave us to our devices because we sin. He doesn't say "I've had enough" and turns and walks away from us. He wants us to be healthy, but it doesn't mean He will not deal with our sin.
It's like cancer. A doctor isn't going to ignore a small batch of cancer saying it's just minor. It's only the full blown cases that get his attention. No, they deal with it, even if it's the size of one cell or millions of cells. Just like cancer, sin, left unchecked, spreads as well.
This doesn't mean we live in paranoia assuming God is keeping a running tab of our sins. We will never be perfect and living our lives trying to attain that would be futile. We would live our lives totally stressed trying to avoid sins and keeping our own tabs of sins. This could cause to believe that it will be by our own efforts that we attain heaven. When we fall short, it could lead to despair.
Just because we sin does not give us free reign to continue sinning. That blesses no one. We can't just live for ourselves with the thought that it will take care of itself. That we will have one of those deathbed confessions that will wipe the slate clean in our final moments. None of us know when that time will come so we shouldn't rely on that. As I said, God will deal with our sin when He chooses to. We don't know when. Also, when we sin against others - those people may not appreciate that and respond accordingly. That might not be pleasant either. Besides, that would also be bad evangelism. God is not going to allow us to run amok in our sins. We are not truly repentant if our attitude is we can just sin and then ask for forgiveness and then go ahead and do that again. God is not an insurance policy for our own recklessness. God's forgiveness to us should cause us to reconsider our behavior and just, maybe, change our ways.
The point is that we should not sugarcoat our sins. Like saying we were just joking or that it's not bad as others or other sins. That becomes a slippery slope. Where is the line as to what sins are OK and which one's need forgiveness? We start doing that, it becomes easier and easier to justifying pushing the line further and further. Plus, each person has their own standards. What some might consider a sin another might think otherwise. Let God set the standard. Sin is sin. God wants to deal with it.
Come to the Lord humbly. Acknowledge that we are sinful and ask for His forgiveness. There are many that I commit and don't remember them all. Ask the Lord to forgive you for those as well. Ask Him to bring healing to your hearts. God will deal with them. We can't nor can we cure others of their sinning as well. We just reveal God in our lives and show that to others. Let God do the work. Once repentant and forgiven, try your best not to hold onto it. Your forgiveness of self should not be a higher standard than God's. It's not easy. We can beat ourselves up over our mistakes. We can have long memories. The enemy likes to remind us of them.
It is said that God remembers our sins no more if we are repentant. That means He CHOOSES to not remember them anymore. That He will no longer hold them against us to demean us or as a threat over our heads. Good enough for Him should be good enough for us. Remember that when the devil tries to sow doubt in your hearts.
Sin is no game and shouldn't be taken lightly. Luckily, we serve a loving God who comes to us in those moments. A lot of times we don't go to Him in our sins. Rather, He comes to us in our hurting. He wants us to be healthy and whole, just like any loving parent for their child.
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