I can still remember watching a show with our entire family that seemed innocent enough, only to come upon a scene that made me blush with embarrassment. Of course, I couldn’t find the remote and clumsily ran up to the TV to turn it off, while tripping on my youngest daughter’s popcorn bowl and practically falling into the whole entertainment center. It was seriously a comedy of errors. Thankfully, my oldest daughter found the remote and fumbled to turn it off so my eight-year-old didn’t have to witness a very worldly view of love with glaringly disturbing images.
Unfortunately, we can’t altogether hide or shelter our children from the evils of this world. That’s because we live in a broken and messy world, riddled with the harsh reality of our corroded hearts and the never-ceasing bend to the ways of our flesh.
In other words, we can’t stop a sinking ship that is going down due to poor choices. However, we can reach for a life raft, throw down an anchor, and put on the life jacket to chart ahead and preserve. And yes, in this analogy, that life raft, anchor, and jacket is Jesus.
All that to say, our choices matter – a lot!
The truth is we can’t abide in Jesus and entertain the ways of the world at the same time. We must choose a side. In other words, we can’t flirt with sin and expect to live a life that glorifies God; it simply isn’t possible.
So, let’s get a little real and honest with ourselves here. I invite you to call out the things that may be seeping into your life, pulling you away from the abundant life that Jesus offers us (John 14:6). Choose what is honorable, noble, just, and good (Philippians 4:8). And strive to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord (Micah 6:8).
Below are five common ways sin can easily sneak into your life, but take heart, because we will also reveal the truth that can set us free!
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1. Falling into Complacency
We often become complacent in areas of our lives where we feel safe and trusted. There is no need to strive anymore, and we may sort of check out or become emotionally unavailable. The term, “it is what it is” comes to mind. Life may become routine, cumbersome, or in some cases boring.
While this isn’t a sin in and of itself, it can lead to sin when we neglect to take care of ourselves and others (Proverbs 1:32). We fail to invest time, and so loving and maintaining our relationships and the blessings that have been given to us easily get taken for granted.
The problem is that complacency leads to self-satisfaction. It’s getting into a rhythm or groove where you don’t feel the need to expend any more energy or put forth the effort, so you simply stop trying. You just sort of bow out or float along without much care.
This numbness towards others – and even ourselves to some extent – can cause so much devastation in our lives. It also opens the door wide for the liar to come in and whisper that something else is better. A better mate, a better job, better kids… You see where I am going. Complacency breeds the illusion of needing something better.
Zephaniah 1:12 gives us a warming about being complacent and can eventually lead us to complacency with our God. We can heed this warning by asking God to change our hearts and transform our thoughts, choosing to count our blessings and shift our perspective.
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2. Tolerant vs. Intolerant
There is a lot of buzz these days about these two words. As many claim the modern-day church is tolerant or that intolerance is a sin, we are essentially arguing and dividing over words, rather than focusing on the real issue at hand. It’s not about being tolerant or intolerant, it’s about where we need to be seeking God’s Truth, and living accordingly.
Truthfully, tolerance can be a virtue as we embrace others with love, grace, and forgiveness, choosing to understand their points of view. However, if we don’t lean into Truth found in God’s Word, we can easily be swayed by the ways of this world.
Instead of being labeled as tolerant or intolerant, let’s choose to love what God loves and hate what He hates.
God is love, so He defines it (1 John 4:8). God tells us that love is patient, kind, does not envy or keep a record of wrongs, among other attributes (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). God tells us love is between a man and woman and the marriage bed is to be kept pure (1 Corinthians 7:1-40).
God is also righteous, holy, and just (Psalm 89:14).God detest six things according to Proverbs 6:16-19. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, and a false witness. We should tolerate others out of love, but we should never, ever tolerate sin.
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3. Entertaining the World’s View of Acceptance
Acceptance. Here is yet another word that has gathered quite a bit of confusion and comes with lots of misconceptions in our society today. The truth is everyone wants to be fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted by everyone else. But God rarely enters this equation!
It has all become relative, a “you accept me, and I will accept you” sort of deal. But, that isn’t how it works with our God. And that isn’t how we should choose to see acceptance either. Currently, the world accepts many things that are not of God and are in fact truly evil.
Here lies the slippery slope to sin. While the world is seeking acceptance and for others to tolerate and accept their sinful behavior, we must understand what acceptance means. To be accepted means to be highly favored, to be given approval, and is given recognition for being correct.
Entertaining the world’s view of acceptance is essentially disregarding the acceptance we receive from Christ. When we place our faith in Jeus, our heart transforms and seeks after the desires of God’s heart and what He finds acceptable. While we will still bend to our flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), we have a choice to stand up for what is truly favored, approved, and correct in the eyes of God (Romans 14:17-18).
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4. Getting Defensive and Defiant
It is easy to become defensive or even defiant when we feel hurt or betrayed by others, or even by God for that matter. However, there is a way of defending what is right without becoming defensive. Remember, as believers our mission is to win people over to Christ. We can’t do that if we build a barrier rather than a bridge.
But I get it, this is easier said than done. It isn’t hard to see that we live in a hostile and divided world. Everyone has a voice, and it can be glaringly loud. Many voices clamoring for attention are blatantly speaking untruth or all out blaspheming God’s name! We should never stand for this (Luke 12:10). However, if we aren’t intentional and pause before we speak, we can easily get sucked into a heated conflict that may not end well.
So, how do we approach this in a way that reveals truth rather than getting pulled into a place that can permeate sinful thoughts or choices?
We must be bold, but speak in love. Invite God into the conversation with a quick whispered prayer. Then take time to listen with patience, while speaking truth in love and grace.
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5. Compromising or Justifying Behaviors
Going back to my story where I nearly fell into the TV trying to prevent my eight-year-old from seeing an inappropriate scene, I recall how she looked at me with a straight face and said, “What was so bad about it?”
Honestly, I have had those same thoughts, and still do from time to time. It’s the human in us coming our front and center. However, the danger in this line of thinking is that in those small (and what is deemed as insignificant) compromises, we find what mentally weakens our character. This is a fine line, as it can so easily lead us to justify sin.
The truth of the matter is that God does not excuse sin – ever! Through His abundant grace, He is willing to forgive. But once again, God does not excuse sin! When we compromise our choices, the line of sin gets blurry and grey, and eventually we fail to truly grieve over our sinful choices and repent with a remorseful heart. In time, we don’t even recognize it as sin anymore, as we keep falling into the same trap, going down the same destructive path.
When we become Christians, we are a new creation. Our old self is dead – gone! We shouldn’t even want to return to it (Philippians 3:7-9). So, let’s strive to stop compromising our faith for our self, and selflessly live for Christ.
Lord,
Please grant us Your grace and forgive us where we fail You and cave under the pressure of our sin. Sanctify and redeem us. Transform our hearts and lives to reflect the image of Your love. We want to honor You with our choices. We love You!
Amen.
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Originally published Thursday, 14 March 2024.