Have you ever sinned???

It’s 1:15 in the morning as I start writing this blog. A summary of the message that I shared with my fellow mates last Wednesday in prayer cell:

Have you ever thought that you’ve actually not been a bad guy/girl in your life?? Have you ever thought that you’ve never sinned in your life?? Then read on... this is for you!!

What is sin? The Bible gives us the best definition for it in Genesis 6:6 –“The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” So anything that we do that will grieve God and cause Him pain is called sin. It shouldn’t really matter to us what others think of us but what God thinks of us is the most important thing.

What is sin?

1. It is a choice.

Well, I will not cheat in an exam when an examiner is standing right next to me. A robber will not rob a bank if he knows that the cameras are focussing on him. And we will not switch over to another channel or to another web page when we notice someone standing behind us.

So there is no point in blaming our society, friends and family for our wrong doings. They can only influence us but can never cause us to sin.

What is ‘peer pressure’ then? This was explained beautifully in one of the youth camps that I attended this summer vacation and it shook me totally.

“When I want to do something (wrong) but don’t have the courage to do it alone, I wait for my friend (friend, really???) to give me that initial push. And I’ll call it peer pressure so that the blame doesn’t fall on me...” wow!!

HOW OFTEN DO WE BLAME OUR ‘FALL’ ON PEER PRESSURE?

2. Sin is being away from God.

If I think that I am finding value and significance in my life to live without depending on God, that’s a sin. O yes!! It is. God does exist. It needn’t be proven ‘cos if I don’t believe it and if I am not ready to give Him the praise, then according to Psalm 19:1, I have this whole nature around me crying out praises to him. So no excuses if you are an atheist. Just look around you and you’ll know there is a Higher Power. Not submitting to Him is definitely a sin!!

What is addiction? Anything that controls me, my thought process and my actions is an addiction. Not just drinking and smoking fall under this category, but also our favourite tv shows, gaming, the internet and most importantly our cell phones. None should control us but God. So, we better be addicted to God and not value anything else above Him in our lives.

WHAT/ WHO ARE YOU ADDICTED TO? GOD OR THE WORLD?

3. Sin starts as a thought, not as actions.

The Bible says in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' ". Yea!! It’s our thoughts that make us ‘unclean’. Before Eve could even pluck the apple from the tree, she had sinned. She had desired (thought process) for the wisdom that God had forbidden Adam and Eve to have (Genesis 3:6). Her thought process led her to a simple act of disobedience which made God throw both Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.

IF ALL YOUR THOUGHTS CAN BE SCREENED ON A BIG SCREEN, WILL YOU BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU ARE SEEING??

4. There is no big sin and small sin in God’s view point.

Pride, selfish ambitions, anger and jealousy are just as deadly a sin like murder and adultery. In the Bible, God compares anger to murder (Matthew 5:22) and a lustful eye to adultery (Matthew 5:28) and says that it is all one and the same!! Remember, Adam and Eve was punished not for committing a crime as huge as we do these days. They were punished for their simple act of disobedience. Then just imagine how gracious our God is now!! How many times have we disobeyed God’s Word, out parents, our elders and never considered it as a sin? God still takes our acts of disobedience very seriously but has been too patient with us not to punish us for all that we do!!

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THAT A ‘SMALL’ LIE OR A ‘SMALL’ BACKTALK WAS NOT ALL THAT WRONG??

Now that we know what sin is, I am sure all of us will agree that we have all sinned at some point of time or the other. So what do we do? We need to sincerely analyse ourselves and repent of our sins. We need to ask God to forgive us and more importantly ask God for His grace to help us not to repeat them again.

Pray this small prayer:

“Dear Jesus, I know that I’ve disappointed You so many times in my life. Forgive me for all that I’ve done to this day. I leave my old life behind. Give me Your grace and help me not to fall into the sinful trap again. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

Now if you’ve prayed this prayer, make sure that you lead a new life from now on so that you don’t give God the chance to say this again, “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”(Genesis 6:6) Let Him give you the grace that you need to lead a life pleasing in His sight. But first, repent and surrender your life to God. It's now or never!!