A View of Sin...

There are countless numbers of differences between myself and God and that goes without saying. As I was praying, a thought came to my mind that I have never considered before: I love my children beyond measure, there is nothing I would not do for them. However, if I look at my children sinning, even if I could see their deepest and darkest sins, how would I respond? Most likely I would be hurt, angry, and/or judgmental. I would still love them unconditionally but I would pass judgement on them nonetheless in my heart and mind. In simply viewing them exercise their freedom of choice, I would most likely sin myself.

Let me explain this briefly. Their actions might affect me because what they do contrasts with my values. I may even consider how their actions could embarrass me if ever exposed, “what would others think?” This is pride on my part. I may wish to correct them and as a parent, it is my role to help guide them but I could be overly critical and hurt them deeply. Children need to know their parents love them no matter what. 

Perhaps their actions would violate beliefs I hold as sacred and therefore, I may become angry. While sin should offend us, it should be based on its offense toward God and not ourselves, we should hate the sin while loving the sinner, unconditionally! If our anger is motivated by how the action affects us, we sin. This is self-righteousness.

I hope you get the point of where I am going with this.   

  

One huge difference between God and me is He sees every sin, mine, yours, and everyone else’s. 

Not only does He see every sin, even those we think are most hidden, but He does not sin in the process. Sin is anything that violates God’s Law. I know many at this point will say, “here we go with all the things we can’t do because God says so,” but if you honestly look at the things that God does restrict, you will find that they really benefit us (I will try to follow up quickly with some examples and post soon). It is to our own detriment not to at least look at this before making a judgment.

God sees our every sin and while it hurts and offends Him, He still loves us unconditionally!         

I don’t think He cares what others will think or how this might have a negative effect on Him; I absolutely believe He cares more about how it will hurt us. If we are saved, we are already forgiven but our sins can lead us away from the close, personal, intimate relationship that He longs for. If you are a parent, you know how you desire a close relationship with your child. Parents who have kids in college or the military really understand this.

For the lost, those who have rejected Christ, God hurts because you hurt worse. I know this may be hard to grasp if you don’t know Him but it’s true. How many of us want to see our child killed in a car accident, die of an overdose, or die at the hands of a mugger? Hopefully no parent desires this for their child; God certainly does not. His desire, why He made us, is so that He will be surrounded by scores of children that He loves and they in turn, love Him back. Is this not what we as parents want?        

Baby Skunks and Children

     There is an old story I’ve heard for most of my life. Our pastor shared it this morning and I immediately thought of another application. I don’t know who told it originally but it goes something like this:

One day a mother looked out the window and saw her children playing with some baby skunks which they thought they were kittens. Horrified, the mother began to yell for her children to run so they picked up the baby skunks and ran.

     Unfortunately, we in the church are much like this well-intentioned mom. When we share Christ with others, we fail to give important details. Whether we fear offending or simply lack knowledge ourselves, we fail to explain that becoming a Christian means turning away from our sins. This is called repentance and it means to go in a 180-degree direction from the path we were on. For many, they do not realize that this means leaving their old sinful lifestyle behind or even faulty beliefs. Like the children picking up the baby skunks, they bring their sinful lifestyle and faulty beliefs with them. The children did not understand that their mother’s intent was to run away from the skunks, mainly the mother skunk that would not be far away. The threat was the skunks but they did not have this piece of information and likewise, sin is the threat the new believer needs to run from but they don’t have this little nugget of information.

     If we are going to share Jesus with others, we need to give them the whole picture, not a watered-down version. Every believer is called to share Christ but we have the obligation to be completely forthright. If you are a believer who wants to share your faith with others, study so that you know what you believe and will have the knowledge to share. Then pray! God will guide you in what you should say but prayer is the most important thing you can do. After all, He is the one who speaks to the heart. He just chooses us to be His instruments. If possible, try building a relationship so that you can disciple the person. Get to know them and as the relationship grows, so does your understanding of what the person believes. Walk beside them, not in front of or behind them and always be sincere.

May God richly bless you as you reach out to others for the kingdom~  

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The Gospel