THE EXPENSE OF SIN
Have you ever thought about the cost of sin? I hear all the time that sin is not a big deal, or that we can do whatever we like as long as we do not hurt other people. Is that true?
It has been suggested that Christians are a group who try to impose some set of arbitrary rules on everybody else, and that we want to stop people having fun. Is that true?
Let me state, right away, that sin is expensive; incredibly expensive. However, the price is not paid in cash; it is paid in mental, emotional, and spiritual pain.
God did not create an arbitrary list of difficult (or, impossible) “DOs” and “DON”Ts” to see if we will follow them — waiting for us to fail, so that He can punish us for our failure.
God set out a set of essential guidelines for living. His anger towards lying, stealing, cheating, coveting, murder, jealousy, and pride is because all of these behaviours destroy relationships. Everything that the Bible labels as sin is something that God wants us to avoid, so that we can live a better life.
Sin is our defiant rejection of those things that God has shown us to be good — all in an effort to satisfy our own selfish desires.
God’s desire for us is love, peace, grace, and harmony with Him and with all His creation. He does not want us in conflict with others, neither does he want us in conflict with ourselves.
Colin R. Vine