People think that a big sin or a big deviation from our normal Christian walk will bring our spiritual journey to an end. May be, in some cases. But for an everyday Christian, it’s the small sins or habitual sins that we often ignore that pokes deeper holes in our spirituality: nursing an old wound, gossiping, lying, being deceitful, keeping an offence, going late to prayer or even skipping church, not studying the Word, watching yet another reel instead of praying, being proud, jealous, petty, mean etc.
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (2 Cor 5:6). Just like a pinch of leaven changes the whole dough, small sins come in, changing every facet of our lives. Every celebrity/leader who has fallen did not cheat the public, knife someone, break a family, bomb a street, abuse someone or loot a company, on a quick urge one fine morning. Blatant sins made public later were the fruit of smaller sinful thoughts that seeped in and over the course of time, weakened the person’s conscience to greater sins.
So-called smaller sins may wreak greater havoc, because they creep in without much consequence at first. Big sins may startle us and stir us to repentance. But small sins lodge in our hearts without stirring up remorse and demanding correction. And like little moths, they eventually destroy the whole fabric.
Satan’s strategy is to wreck our lives. And he has thousands of years’ worth of data on human behaviour.
He knows that we may not commit adultery, loot a bank, develop an addiction or commit a murder. So we call the others sinners and settle into our lives of false ‘goody goody’ normalcy.
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Jesus told his followers that the tax collector went home justified before God. “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14
The enemy has deviously developed an arsenal of temptations for every man, woman and child. Depending on our nature, place in life and physical location, satan crafts temptations with strategic accuracy in order to inflict maximum damage to our souls.
One of his chief tactics is to persuade Christians to ignore their ‘small sins’. Do not sweep them under the carpet. Take them to JESUS.
You know what your sins are. Do not bother about your family’s, spouse’s, colleague’s, friend’s, ex’ or minister’s sins. You can only deal with your sin.
Pray for them, but DEAL with your own sin.
#JesusSonOfGodHaveMercyOnMe #JesusHeals #Lent
