Reason #1 Not To Sin......
Because a little sin leads to more sin.
When I was a high school student, I had Andy Stanley as my youth pastor. If you're unaware or have been living under some sort of rock, he has been enormously gifted by God as a teacher and communicator of truth. As a high schooler, I had the benefit of sitting under his teaching for four years. In a particularly uncomfortable and eye-opening series called "How Far Is Too Far?" Andy talked about the perils of sexual immorality and how to avoid making mistakes that would mark us forever. We had laminated cards to remember the points and long before the "WWJD" movement of a few years later, there were several hundred high school students who were newly empowered with their laminated cards and commitment to sexual purity.
There were two points on that little card that are relevant to our reason here today.
1. The further you go, the faster you go.
2. The further you go, the harder it is to go back.
I have certainly found that no matter how "little" the sin or how infrequent, if left unchecked, my appetite will be for more. It is a WITHOUT FAIL principle. Whenever there is sin, if I do not repent of it (ie: agree with God that I am sinning and lifting up myself against Him) and turn away from it, it will always lead to more. It will always lead to more...............
gossip
slander
lying
cheating
complaining
grumbling
pride
critical spirit
critical speech
sexual sin
......and all other sins. The list is endless. I have found that this is a point that I'd like to argue and explain away. I mean, if I ask the Holy Spirit to be faithful to prick my heart any time that I am sinning, it seems to be an endless pricking session akin to some sort of spiritual acupuncture. I find myself saying "well, I mean everyone sins. Nobody's perfect! This is why we live under grace and not the law......." Though all of those statements are true, none of them requires me to take the responsibility that is indeed mine to "throw off" the sin that so easily entangles. I believe one of the first steps though is to reclassify things as sin that our christian culture has begun to accept and tolerate and in some cases, embrace. We classify gossip as "concern", critical spirits as "constructive"......and so on. Once we've begun to explain away these "little" sins, before we know it, we're knee deep in sin and wondering how we got there. How? Because a little sin always leads to more sin.
How have you seen this principle prove true?
What other sins have we begun to explain away and classify?
What safeguards can we have in place so we don't find ourselves being led into more sin?
"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." James 1:12-16
thoughts?
peace.
Amen! Israelites of the old testament are a prime example. As a nation, they started out with small sin but before long, they were directly violating God's directives.
ReplyDeleteconvicting. thank you, Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteother sins (i) have begun to explain away and classify?...not treating my body as His temple. HIS.
Israelites - PERFECT example. And they had God's visible presence in pillars of cloud and fire!
ReplyDeleteStephanie...absolutely...what a great point about the body.
The old illustration of the frog in the kettle comes to mind. If you drop a frog in boiling water, he'll jump out. Put him in a pan of tepid water, increase the heat gradually, and he'll boil to death. (Never tried this...but great illustration!) Sin is like that. If you don't go anywhere near the sin, you can avoid the snare. Thankfully we have a way out! I Corinthians 10:13
ReplyDeleteMy father in law used to preach: Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and take more than you intended to pay.
Good word.
I wish I could think of a good Biblical example, but one thing that comes to mind that you can justify is lying. Mainly lying to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Only what happens, is that when the person finds out you were lying, you really end up hurting their feelings more. I think sometimes we see those lies as little and justifiable (I guess there can be some big lies too, but those I think you don't ever really justify in your mind because deep down you know you are being wrong).
ReplyDeleteOur tongue is a hard thing to control.
James 3:5- 10
"Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be."
Psalm 34:12-13
"Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies."
I would say lying and gossip can go hand in hand. Sometimes gossip is lies that just get spread around and we never check facts, we just spread them. This is definitely a woman thing I think and just something we have to ask God's help in, or literally just have God take us out of situations we can walk in to that lead to more gossip.
I think a good safeguard is reading and memorizing scripture (which I need to do more of). I'm less likely to gossip if I remember it is included with slander, malice, haters of God... Romans 1:29-30.
ReplyDeleteMargie...what a great example and I love what your Father-in-law says. So true! I will be using that in the future :)
ReplyDeleteChristina...yep...I think omission can be part of that as well and also considered lying. Not doing or saying the right thing when we should. "To him who knows the right thing to do and does not do it...to him it is sin." Good word.