SEVEN SINS 10-26-21

_ 030614 SIN

What a day this is, unseen and never used. The promises of God are in front of us. Give that some serious thought as the day progresses. What we are going to deal with today are seven sins that we Christians seem to forget about. As I was reading and gathering information from a number of sources, it became eye opening to me.

TODAY’S PRAYER

Father, I come before you today on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ to request that You remind us that “man is born broken; he lives by mending, and your grace is the glue.” Oh how often we have needed Your mending when we have been battered and bruised by life’s daily trials. How often we have felt beaten down by ridicule, broken dreams, physical illness, or unfair circumstances beyond our control. Yet through it all, You were there, faithful to Your promises when we turned to You. It was then that we found that Your grace is indeed sufficient and able to mend our brokenness. Thank You Father, for being there for us. In our weakness, we are beginning to discover Your strength! Steady us, for we sometimes forget. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Let’s eat.

7 Sins That Many Christians Seem To Ignore

Bearing False Witness

We are still sinners, the Bible is very clear about this (1 John 1:8. 10), but we should not be bearing false witness to others. We can “stretch” the truth, but a half-truth is still a whole lie. I know I’ve done it, and I would imagine you have, too. I’ve been caught in a lie, and I’ve caught others in them, too. Most Christians repent of this and ask for forgiveness, but I also know a person who claims to be a Christian and is a compulsive liar. This ought not be because this is one of the so-called seven deadly sins that God hates, and it includes being “a false witness who breathes out lies” (Proverbs 6:19), which is “a lying tongue” (Proverbs 6:17).

Gossiping

This is one sin that God truly hates. It divides and destroys many churches and relationships, too. God says, “There are six things that the Lord hates [and] seven that are an abomination to him” (Proverbs 6:16), including “one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:19) because it destroys the unity which God is trying to create in the church. This was a huge problem within the Corinthian church, as Paul wrote that there should “be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10) because “a whisperer (gossiper) separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28).

Stealing

We might not be robbing banks, but we can leave work early; have someone clock us in or out; or steal pens, paper, and even paperclips from work. If we aren’t giving it our all at work, then we’re stealing from our employer, who pays us the wages for which they expect us to work. Paul admonishes those thieves of property and time: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28). Paul rebuked the church at Rome by asking, “While you preach against stealing, do you steal” (Romans 2:21)?

Coveting

This is the only sin that is listed among the Ten Commandments that nobody can see. You can covet your neighbor’s spouse; you can covet their brand new car; you can covet their house; or you can even covet their job, status, or position in life. Coveting is the one sin that Paul apparently had trouble with, as he wrote, “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead” (Romans 7:7-8).  When you covet, you tell God, “God, I’m not satisfied with what I have–I want more.”

Dishonoring Parents

I hear this broken frequently by people who talk about their parents when they’re not there and even after they’ve passed away. Once again, I’ve done it, but I stopped. I repented of this. You can dishonor your parents even after you’re an adult by the way you talk to them, by the way you talk about them, and by the way you treat them (or mistreat them). This commandment is so important to God that He placed it first in the six commandments that are horizontal (human to human). This is the only commandment that promises a longer life if obeyed but a shorter life if not. This is not simply an Old Testament law, as Paul reiterated it in Ephesians 6:2-3, writing, “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Paul directly quoted Deuteronomy 5:16.

Gluttony

The Bible describes gluttony as sin, but most Christian’s would never approach someone about this in a million years. Maybe it’s because they fear a backlash from the person they come to, but gluttony does not always have to be about food. We can be gluttonous with food, clothing, movies, sports, the Internet, Facebook, Instagram, and self, devouring hours and hours of time while neglecting prayer and Bible study. Gluttony means you are always wanting more than what you need, so want always outweighs need, and need is never enough, so our addiction (to whatever it is) takes priority over a lot of good things in our life. Gluttony and idolatry are cousins.

Neglecting the Saints

This is a big problem in many churches. Recently, I visited a man who was in the hospital for a week and almost no one in his church knew it. He had pneumonia and was on a catheter, so I ask if there was anything I could do for him. He asked me to get his phone charger, some clean underwear, and his toothbrush and razor, so I ran to his apartment and came back, and asked if he had many visitors, and he turned to me and said, “You!” His own church members, once they all knew, never once visited him, and I could tell this hurt him. This neglect is sin because visiting the sick is a command of Christ (Matthew 25:36), but very few Christians seem to understand that doing this for others is doing it for Him (Matthew 25:40), or doing nothing at all for Him (Matthew 25:42-43).

Think about this and take a good look inside yourself

I used the Ten Commandments because every sin we can commit are contained within these ten. I could have also added putting others before God and taking God’s name in vain, but I would not expect Christians to openly do these sorts of things. Surely, we should not be lying to one another, we should not be gossiping about others, we should be giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wages, we shouldn’t be coveting what others have but be content with what we have, and we should be honoring our parents.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The more deeply we gaze upon God, the more we want our lives to reflect Him. Repentance is not driven by judgment or legalism. As we see His holiness, it is natural to want to be like Him – pure and white like the fresh snow. ~Darlene Cunningham~

WITH HOPE AND FAITH

REV. ELDER G E STERRETT

FOUNDER

GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY

Written by Glenn Sterrett, Founder and CEO of the GCKRS™ Helping Hand Foundation.

Leave a comment