There are many lies that are easy to believe when faced with the choice to continue sinning. There are many different types of sins, but I think all of these lies apply to sin in general. I write these from the voice of a sinner. I am a sinner, and it is Christ's mercy and grace that keep me at his side, even after I stumble.
Lies I Have Told Myself About Sin
If I tell myself that _______ action isn't wrong, I can continue doing it.
Nobody will get hurt if I do ______. This doesn't concern anybody else.
Nobody else will find out.
I decide what is right and wrong. _______ isn't wrong.
I can stop doing ________ at any time, so it's no big deal. I'll stop doing _________ later.
I don't have to listen to what the Church says about ________. (And the ever popular extension of this -- A bunch of old, celibate men in Rome don't know about ________, so I don't have to listen to the Church. Those old celibate guys in Rome actually do know what they're talking about because the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church.)
Popular culture depicts _________ as ok, so it mustn't be wrong that I'm doing it.
I've already done _________, so doing ____________ (pick a different sin or the same sin) shouldn't be too bad. I'm already in the state of sin. (I call this the bad dieter mentality. I've already had a handful of chips, so having the whole bag isn't bad. I've already broken the diet for the day. Or, I've already had the bag of chips, so having ice cream now isn't going to hurt anything. I'll just do better tomorrow.)
Other Christian denominations don't say __________ is a sin.
________ is normal.
The list goes on and on. All of them are lies because any excuse to sin is wrong. Sin is wrong. Evil talks us into committing evil because evil is seductive. Once having committed evil, though, we then begin to see it as normal. There must be something to break the cycle of evil. Otherwise, it continues and snowballs.
Christ breaks this cycle of evil, but we have to be willing to allow him into our lives. Surrendering to him is all it takes because all things are possible with Christ.
Let him in, and he'll heal our wounds. There will surely be clean up on our own part as well, but Christ helps us.
What do I mean by cleanup?
I'll use my past sins of writing erotica online. It wasn't enough for me to stop writing it and then to disappear into the shadows of the Internet. I felt called to start this blog as well as my other blog, Buried Treasure, Field of Mercy. The public nature of my sins has caused others to commit sins. Now, I feel that Christ has called me to write things that will help others to avoid sin and to walk with him.
I fought God as he gently asked me to write my story here. Whereas the filth I had been writing was written under the pretense of being fiction, this blog is highly personal. It is difficult for me to write. I have to talk myself into doing it every time I sit down to my keyboard. Christ helps me, and I gladly accept the help because this is something I cannot do on my own.
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Lord Jesus,
Help us to be faithful to you, to follow you, and always seek to act in ways that are pleasing to you. When we fail, please help us to express sorrow for the things we have done and then to return to you. Help us to see the open arms you extend to us. Help us to form a clear resolve to turn away from sin so that we can prop open the doors to our hearts for you to fill us with your presence.
Amen
