Sunday, July 27, 2008

Do you pick and choose your sin?

Hey gang! I have something really quick today as a follow up from my last post. We are wrapping up summer around here (school starts in about two weeks!) so, you might want to sign up to receive e-mails on my blog updates instead of just checking the site here and there. I might be a little scattered on writing between now and school:) But, I promise I will try to write at least once a week.

OK - I was getting my nails done the other day and I had a new gal this time. She was very chatty and told me all kinds of details about herself. She was young, only 19 and talked a lot about her friends and starting college. She went on to tell me how a group of friends were going down to Atlanta before school started to hit some clubs and party for the weekend. She proudly told me that she wasn't into that. And, she didn't want to risk getting caught with a fake ID. She said that she had accomplished to much to get hauled off to jail for something silly like that. Then, her next sentence was this. "So instead, I'm just going to go with my boyfriend on a weekend trip." Now, this was the first time I had ever spoken to this young girl. No, I don't know if she considers herself a Christian or not. And, yes - some of you will think I'm judging her - but just hang in there and hear me out:)

So - we have, for the sake of our example, a young girl who doesn't drink under age - because that is wrong. But, she is willing to spend the weekend with her boyfriend. Now, come on guys. Do you really think that two 19 years olds of the opposite sex are going to stay in a hotel room for the weekend and nothing is going to happen? If so, I will just tell you straight up that you are nuts!

Now, to get away from someone else's example and turn this on myself (YIKES!). Do I pick and choose my sin? Wow, what a question! Think about it. Do I rank sin and think to myself -- I will never murder that's terrible! But, an occasional lie or exaggeration of the truth is OK. I won't gossip with this person over here because I know they think it's bad, BUT - I know this person doesn't mind so it's OK when I talk to them. You know that I could go on and on with things that we consider petty, but God still calls them sin.

If you have some time, I've listed below some scripture references about sin. If you have a certain area in your life where you are feeling defeated - talk to God about that today. Satan wants us to feel defeated in our sin. He wants us to think that the occasional sin is OK. No, Christians are not perfect and as long as we are alive - we will sin. BUT, does your sin break your heart? Does the sin of our nation break your heart? Have you grown so accustomed to certain sins, probably "petty" sins, that you don't even feel guilty anymore? Or if you see a sin in someone else - you don't grieve for them. You just consider it their personal choice. If we want to live a radical life for Christ, when we sin - it MUST break our hearts. Pray today for true conviction of sin. Not just for your life personally, but also for our nation.

Sin steals joy (Psalm 51:12)

Sin removes confidence (I John 3:19-21)

Sin quenches God's Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19)

Sin brings physical damage (Psalm 38:1-11; 31:10)

Sin breaks God's heart (Ephesians 4:30)

Sin opens the door to other sins (Isaiah 30:1)

Sin breaks fellowship with God (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Sin desires to control my life (John 8:34; Romans 6:16)

1 comment:

Leah Adams said...

You are on my toes!!! Yes, I think we all pick and choose our sins. Cafeteria Christianity is what I like to call it.

Leah