Sin is selfishness. Sin is doing what you want to do without regard to how it will affect other people. Sin is doing what is wrong, especially when you know in your heart it is not the right thing to do. Sin is the opposite of love – sin focuses only on yourself and not on the needs of anyone else. When you sin, you are living independent of God’s Love. Sin is separation from God.
Sin in the Bible
Sin is an important concept in the Christian Bible. Sin means disobedience to God. The Ten Commandments give us a description of sin – lying, murder, stealing, adultery, etc. (Deuteronomy 5:4–21). The Bible says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and wash us from unrighteousness (I John 1:9). To confess means to agree with God that we are doing the wrong thing and we want to stop. When God forgives us, we feel relief – our guilt is taken away. This empowers us to receive God’s Love and choose to be loving, not selfish.
What is repentance?
Repentance means to shift your thinking – to look at things differently. Ultimately, it means to agree with God concerning what is sin. When you recognize what you are doing is wrong or sinful, you have a choice to make. Will you choose to do what is right? In order to do that, you change the way you think. You make a different choice – you choose to do what is right. That is repentance (Acts 3:19)
Jesus’s Life
When we decide to follow the way of Jesus, He sends His Spirit to live inside of us. This Spirit (the Holy Spirit of God) empowers us to Love others. Loving others is the opposite of being selfish and sinful in our actions. Only by Jesus are we able to love others – we need His help every day to be kind and forgiving, especially when other people sin against us. We share His love with everyone – loving our neighbor and honoring God with our actions (Matthew 22:36-40).
God’s Mercy
When we were blinded by sin, consumed by our selfishness and self-centered ways, God in His great mercy sent Jesus to die for us. His death opened the way for us to approach God and ask for forgiveness of our sins. We were separated from God by our sin. We could not reach Him. He came to us, in the form of Jesus, God’s Son. He showed us the way to God – to love others, to be forgiving, to be obedient to God and honor Him even if it means we will suffer. God’s mercy toward us inspires us to live a life of Love and choose not to live a life of sin.
Jesus bless you all
Nicola Kanaan
