~2/26/18~
Sin is kind of a hard and easy topic to talk about. We all sin, and if you think you are perfect and don't sin, then I'm about to be the one to pop your little perfect bubble. Surprise, you sin, ALL THE TIME. Did you not open that text message from your friend so you wouldn't have to answer? Did you lie to your parents about putting up your laundry when its really in a pile on the floor in your bedroom? Did you decide to get drunk last Saturday night at a party? Now Im sure you're probably thinking "well me lying about my laundry isn't as bad as getting black out drunk at the age of 16." Well, it might not be as bad to you, but NEWS FLASH, God does not care. He sees all sins the exact same.
This will always be one of my favorite pictures ever to describe sin. We see sin as, well I ONLY lied to my parents about something small, and you got drunk and stole money from someone so you are worse than me. ABSOLUTELY NOT. We as human beings want to think this way because let's face it, we are so full of ourselves, and saying that something that someone else did is worse then what we did, makes us feel better about ourselves. It makes us not feel as bad for what we have done as well. "Well, I'm a better person than them because I only told a little white lie, at least I didn't get arrested."That is just the way we work. We rank our sins based on what we believe is not as bad as another. What about those people who are in jail for murder or drug possession. Should they feel worse about themselves because of the things they did? No. God sees everything equally. Just like he sees us as people equally. People who have Jesus and God in their hearts and chose to follow and walk with him, God sees them the exact same way as people who refuse to accept him into their lives. He doesn't love those people any less. He doesn't watch over those people any less. He also doesn't judge people with "easier" sins any less. We are all sinners, and God sees us all in the same light. Now God understands that we are not perfect but we need to strive to be that. We will never be perfect, ever. The day we leave this world we will not be perfect, but we can try to be. We can change the way we live our life to try to be a better person but we will always have sin, we will always be sinners. We aren't sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. God sees it all equally. Now I'm not saying, "oh well since my sin of getting drunk is equal to someone telling a white lie then I must be good." Nope again. Just because God sees all of our sins as equals doesn't mean its okay to keep doing them. We should all stop lying and stealing and talking back, but we should also stop drinking under-aged, cussing, and having sexual relationships with people who aren't are husband/wife. These are all sins in God's eyes, so because he doesn't care how "little" or "big" they are, we shouldn't either. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us for our sins. Just because we are forgiven unconditionally for sinning, doesn't mean we should stop asking for forgiveness. We should still ask for forgiveness for all of our sins, although we are already forgiven for every single one of them.
Now let's talk about how to get better at sin. A lot of people think when you sin "too much" and realize that they need to get back on track, they think the way to do that is to go to Church. I am not saying this is not the answer at all. It is. If you have sinned so much in your life and you realize you don't like the person you are becoming, then yes, go to church. But newsflash, going to church will not fix all of your problems. Walking through those doors for a couple months, or even just one week, will not solve anything. Yes, it will tell God you are trying but you actually have to try. Just walking inside a church does not make all of your sins go away, especially if you are going to go right back to them the next weekend. God doesn't work like that. You can't just walk into his house the second you do something bad and expect everything to be all fine and dandy. Go to church. Sit and listen to the sermon. Hear what the pastor or leader is trying to say. Maybe that will impact your life. If your heart is the exact same way it was when you walked into the church, when you leave, it didn't change. Going to Church is a great thing for so many different reasons but if you don't listen and decide you want to change, then going to church is pointless. So next time you get drunk or have sex and you think to yourself "oh dang I'm not doing good things, I need to go to church on Sunday." If you walk in that Sunday morning and feel like everything was solved, it wasn't. Your heart should be so full of God when you leave that church. It might take a while and that's okay. But don't expect to find a change in your life in a specific building if you are not willing to do some changing yourself. God is great and he will help you with anything and everything in your life but you are the one that gets to decide if you truly want that change. If you want to change yourself with him by your side then step off your throne and offer the seat to him, I promise you it will be the greatest decision ever in your life.
Sin can be tricky and hard to understand sometimes. There are a few things you need to know. The first thing is to realize that you are a sinner. That is the biggest thing, because we all sin, all the time, every single day. Once you realize you are far from perfect in every single way possible, now its time to open your heart to God. It might seem scary and nerve-racking but it's not. Opening your heart to God might be one of the easiest and most rewarding things to do, ever. You have to surrender yourself to him. You are no longer on the throne, He should be. It's hard for us as humans. We want to be in control of everything. We want to be "top dog" of our lives so it's hard to willing pass that job to someone else. This isn't just a normal someone though. This is God, Lord Almighty and if anyone can have control of your life, it should be Him because he will keep it in the best care. Doing sin is easy. Sin itself is hard. Realizing that I have to step back to let God have control can be the hardest. It might take time but if you are willing to work at it, the long hours and days and months will be so so worth it. Remember that. We don't know the outcome to anything in our life, but I can assure you the outcome of having God take over your heart and soul, is one of the sweetest outcomes ever.
~ As always, Keep your Eyes Wide Open and look toward the Lord~
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary; and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." -Isaiah 40: 28-31
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