After a minister had spoken strongly against sin one morning, one of his members said, “We don’t want you to talk so plainly about sin, Because if our children hear you mention it, they will more easily become sinners. call it a mistake, if you will, but do not speak so bluntly about sin.”
The minister went to his medicine shelf and brought back a bottle of strychnine marked “Poison.” He said, “I understand what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take this ‘Poison’ off the bottle and put on a label like ‘Peppermint Candy.’ Can’t you see the problem? The milder you make the label, the more dangerous the poison’s presence.”
Romans 6:32 For the wages of sin is death, But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
I will sing to my Lord as long as I live, I will sing
praise to my God while I have my being.
We must not shy away from using truthful words about evil and sin. Like poison, they are to be identified and warned against in the clearest of terms. However, we must not make sin and evil the focus of our lives or our self-perception. We are to be children of God overcoming and avoiding our weaknesses. We are not to see ourselves as evil beings who only do good to avoid punishment or damnation.
Sin, in its truest sense is the illusion of separation from God, and it is very poisonous. Yet the antidote to sin is communion with God. That means love, peace, joy and hope are to fill our existence. Focusing on negative emotions and thoughts such as fear (accept in the sense of reverence and awe), self -recrimination, judgement, scorn, condemnation of self or others is not healthy, not should it be our point of focus.
Label sin, yes. Live love, yes.
Focused on love,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 