As I was shaving this morning, I was reminded why I dislike shaving. The concept of dragging metal blades across my face always brings with it the possibility of a nick or a cut. Man, do those hurt and bleed! It is so small in terms of our overall person, but so painful.
As I had that thought, I was reminded of the book of Jeremiah where I have been reading in my devotions. In Jeremiah, we are reminded that God takes our sin seriously! While we may make excuses for our sin, the “size” of our sin does not matter in God’s paradigm…it still carries consequences.
So, how does our sin, even the sin that we perhaps deem inconsequential, impact our lives?
First, when we harbor sin in our lives, we disrupt the Spirit’s work in our lives. When we allow sin to go unchecked in our lives, we are living in accordance with, as Paul describes, the old man. Christ has called us to a new way of life; one that is marked by the Spirit’s control. When we live in the flesh, we cannot produce good fruit, which is only a byproduct of God working in us and through us (John 15:5). When we harbor sin, we sap the spiritual life that God desires us to have.
Second, sin within our lives disrupts the effectiveness of our prayer life. The Psalmist reminds us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us (66:18). The Psalmist wants us to understand how destructive unconfessed sin is within our lives. There is always forgiveness in Christ, but when we willfully hold onto our sin, the efficacy of our prayers is diminished. Yet, when we humble ourselves and seek His forgiveness, we find it.
Third, when we allow sin to reign in our hearts, we often destroy relationships around us. Part of the consequences of sin is that sin corrupts. Sin negatively impacts our attitudes and our behaviors often leading us to use and mistreat those around us. Beyond that, when we entertain our sin, we often selfishly ignore how our sin will impact those around us; the hurt and sorrow we will cause them. Our sin pulls us to look only after our own wants and desires which is the opposite of what Christ calls us to do…show care and thought on the needs of others rather than our own. The selfishness of our sin ignores others and ignores the consequences they might receive because of our actions.
Like a cut from shaving, sin may seem small, but it has massive effects. A cut from shaving seems to never stop bleeding, and it stings like crazy. Our sin has far-reaching effects, sometimes making impacts in ways we have never imagined and lengths of time that are shocking. As followers of Christ, we must take sin seriously because God takes sin seriously.
Serving Together
Pastor Derek