Not So BIG and BAD
Yeah that’s right, you do it! You like it! And you don’t want anyone to tell you anything about it. Sorry to tell you, but today I’m going to tell you something about it that will change your perspective forever.
So what am I talking about? Well, I don’t know if you’re ready yet? Are you sitting down? Do you promise to continue reading after I’ve dropped the bomb on you? Okay, here we go! I am talking about SIN! Yup, that word nobody wants to hear or mention, because we know either one of two subjects typically follow, moral self-discipline or Hell. Both of which are topics that many of us would like to go our entire lives avoiding.
Please trust me on this one, because you certainly want to read what I have to say. Whether you know it or not sin has gotten a bad rap. I know that sounds odd, but it’s true. Don’t get me wrong sin is a horrible and destructive force. It is the root to killings, rapes, wars, broken families, much poverty, destroyed futures; the list goes on a lot further than I can write in this one post. But one thing sin is not, is impossible to defeat. Sin has gotten the undeserving reputation of being so big and bad that we are all destined to live helpless and reckless for life. Let me tell you folks, “Sin is not that bad!”
You’ve heard the saying, “We are all sinners.” FALSE, we all are not! I know that you have even heard Christians say that, but it still ain’t true. The Bible teaches that we are all born sinners, but that is not how we all remain. That is what Jesus died for, so that people that received Him could live free from sin. If we are all sinners, what benefit would it be for anyone to receive Christ? If only for forgiveness, and then we can remain serving sin, then let me say to everybody, “Let’s say that we belong Jesus, but only so we can serve sin even better!” After all, we are all just sinners, right? Wrong!
I would never dare to open my mouth and say that Christians never sin, because they do. I know it seems like that statement contradicted the last four paragraphs, but hang in there with me. You are about to catch what I’m saying.
Have you ever painted anything? Do you now tell people that you are a painter? Have you ever played baseball? Do you go around telling people that you are a baseball player? Most people would answer those questions by saying, “Yes, I have painted and played baseball, but no, I do not call myself a painter or a baseball player”.
The difference between committing a sin and being a sinner is very similiar to the difference of painting something and being a painter. You see, being a Christian does not mean you will never sin, but it does mean that you don’t make a lifestyle of sinning. After someone chooses to follow Christ he doesn’t plan to sin any longer. In fact, he does the exact opposite; he plans not to sin. However, he may occasionally fail, as he learns to live free from sin. Just like any other learning experience in life, we all stumble from time to time as grow and develop.
Before I chose Christ, I spent everyday of my life sinning to the max. I had no problem with lying, cheating, cursing, hating, drinking, having premarital sex, and there were many other things I had no problem with doing. I always had time in my day for a little self-indulgence and immorality. By every definition of the word, I was a sinner; my lifestyle was filled with sin. Honestly, there were a lot of things about that lifestyle that I enjoyed, at least until the consequences showed up.
I would pray occasionally, but I always knew that more sin was on the other side of my prayers. I never really intended on not sinning. That was so far from reality in my eyes, back then. After all, I lived in a world and around people that constantly reaffirmed the ideal to surrender to sin. My reality had one rule, “Do what thou wilt”.
Today my reality is a lot different. I have God’s reality, which is by all accounts, true reality. God’s reality is that Jesus can free you from the driving power immorality, because eventually that driving force will take you some where you don’t want to go. Unfortunately, it always seems to be a place with a whole lot of pain and regret. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s not the type of places I want my life to take me.
Check out this verse.“We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and a worshiper of Him and does His will, He listens to him. (John 9:31)”
I know that is a tough pill to swallow, but it is definitely necessary to know. The primary point I want to make from that verse, is notice there are two groups of people mentioned in that verse, sinners and people that do what God asks. Therefore, we can’t all be sinners or else God would not listen to any of us.
Romans 6:12-14 of Message Bible says to people that were willing to receive Christ, “…you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.”
Please don’t get me wrong, sin is bad! But it ain’t so bad that you and I can’t beat it. We don’t have to be sinners. Christ died so that we could be free from the power of sin. I have been under sin’s power and I am now free from it, and let me tell you, “Being free is a whole lot better”. Try it out! I’m sure that you will love it!
Reference the “Just for you” page for further help.
Nothing New Under the Sun
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