Thirty Day Challenge – Day Seven – Little Sins

Greetings Dear Reader,

“Father, please show me my sin.”

As someone who loves to manipulate words to make them express what I wish I find that there is a way of doing this that is very dangerous.  We have terms for things that are wrong but we have decided that they are not as wrong as other things.  We compare sins to each other rather than to the standard that God sets for sin.

The first problem I face when I do this is that it makes those “small sins” easier to accept.  No sin is acceptable to God.  His standard for comparison is his holiness.  From this perspective my most insignificant sin makes me just as guilty as anyone else. 

Every white lie, venial sin, or minor transgression is linked to the one sin that condemns us all.  I have written about the greatest commandment and its link to following Christ.  From the perspective of my sin I violate it every time I do something small that is wrong.

Since Christ says, “Indeed you must love unconditionally Yahweh who is your God with the center of your physical life.  You must love Yahweh unconditionally with the core of your spiritual life.  You must love Yahweh unconditionally with the vital force that animates you.  You must love Yahweh unconditionally with all of your understanding, feeling, and desire.  You must love Yahweh unconditionally with all of your force and might.”, anything that I do that is wrong violates this.

I tend to comfort myself by making excuses for the tiny sins.  This is so dangerous because it leads to tiny dismissals of the great command.  If I harbor a small grudge or hold onto a little anger I do not love God unconditionally because he has asked me to forgive.  I seldom talk about slippery slopes but in this case I have often seen the indulgence of small sins lead to eventual rejection of God all together.

When I refuse to love others I am refusing to love God unconditionally.  When I allow small sins against others I am refusing to love them unconditionally.  There is no room for this in following Christ.  It is quite easy to see how the weight of many small rejections can lead to an eventual rejection of God.  There are, therefore, no little sins.  I must fight instant by instant if necessary to guard against this.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."