Knowing Our Sin

Sin is real. Anyone who truly believes that sin does not exist has not been paying attention! In real-life, when we are honest, we look anywhere and see the evidence of sin. We see greed, snarky comments on social media, and mean and angry attitudes. Just think about your language the last time someone cut you off on the freeway!!

But do we know anything about sin? Sin is as common to human beings as sliminess is to a worm. Yet, how many of us understand sin? Why is it important for us to know about sin?

If we choose to ignore our sin and its seriousness, our sinful hearts see it as normal behavior. Sinful deeds will no longer seem wrong to us. We disconnect our behavior from God and live as if our sin does not matter. It’s like when we were kids and started stealing. If we didn’t get caught, we didn’t think it was wrong. But, if we got punished, if people found out, we took it much more seriously.

Without knowing our sin, we can never fully know ourselves and the debt of sin we have racked up. Suppose you go away for many months and when you return your friend says that he paid your bills for you. That may seem like no big deal until you find out and recognize that your friend paid a 7-year IRS back-taxes bill that was going to make you lose your house and your car and your savings!

Then you find out your friend emptied his bank account and took loans to pay off your debt. That changes everything, doesn’t it? We understand our situation only when we appreciate the enormity of our debt the gigantic sacrifice and huge gift to us.

When we understand the enormity of our sin and the debt that Jesus paid for our sin, we can begin to appreciate God’s love for us. Our gratitude breaks down our pride, and we grasp that we have been saved from a terrible fate. This pushes us toward thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving paves the way to humility. In humility, we can begin to walk with God in a new purpose for our lives.