{"id":12,"date":"2018-08-07T18:42:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T18:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/?p=12"},"modified":"2018-10-08T21:56:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T21:56:13","slug":"what-is-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/2018\/08\/07\/what-is-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"Damaged Goods: What is Sin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sin is one of those subjects often misunderstood, with many people believing that as long as you\u2019re basically a \u201cgood person,\u201d you\u2019re without sin. It\u2019s important to know that the Christian view of sin is quite different.<\/p>\n

What is sin according to God?<\/strong> To us humans, there are the \u201cbig\u201d sins: murder, violence, theft, drug abuse, drunk driving, etc.\u2014all things we can point to and confidently say, \u201cyes, that is a sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there are the \u201ceveryday sins\u201d: gossiping, little white lies, driving over the speed limit, vanity, audibly judging someone\u2019s outfit, cursing, watching pornography .\u00a0.\u00a0. the list goes on! These are the sins that maybe we don\u2019t recognize as sin, ones that are sometimes harder to avoid, or that we might even find fun.<\/p>\n

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You\u2019re probably thinking something like, \u201cI didn\u2019t realize gossiping was a sin\u201d or \u201cwhat is the harm in watching pornography?\u201d<\/p>\n

You are not alone. Most people have this moment because everyday society tells us that it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to do these things. We\u2019re told it\u2019s entertaining to judge someone based on the way they dress and to make fun of them; entire TV shows are dedicated to this form of ‘amusement’. We see images of scantily-clad men and women every day with enormous pictures of models in underwear at the mall and on billboards.<\/p>\n

Why should we as Christians try to avoid these \u201ceveryday\u201d sins?<\/strong> Because sin separates us from the Father.<\/p>\n

God sees any kind of sin as just that\u2014sin<\/em>. He does not differentiate between \u201cbig\u201d sins and \u201ceveryday\u201d sins. The more we sin, the further we distance ourselves from Him. You already know that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and confess your sins to God, this makes you right in the eyes of God. He will forgive you. And it\u2019s a very good idea to confess your sins every day, because there is not a day in the week that we don\u2019t sin.<\/p>\n

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So, what is sinful about gossiping? <\/em>Gossip is largely negative information being passed around about another person. Sometimes it can make us feel self-righteous in comparison to the person being gossiped about. Sometimes bringing another person down makes us feel better about our own shortcomings and insecurities. Other times, the information is just so juicy and salacious, we can\u2019t miss the opportunity to score points by passing it on.<\/p>\n

If you were to stop and think about the effect your words are going to have on that person you\u2019re gossiping about, would you change your mind? Will this sharing of information build them up? Or hurt them? The likelihood is, it will be very hurtful to them; and if we\u2019re deliberately doing something to harm, instead of heal, then it is logically a sin, right?<\/p>\n

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OK, so why is watching pornography a sin? <\/em>The sheer amount of pornographic material that is readily available these days has contributed to a growing acceptance of porn as mere entertainment. There are several reasons why watching pornography is considered a sin in God\u2019s eyes:<\/p>\n