May 30
“Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.” (Romans 6:21)
This is a great verse to think about, to think long and hard about. If you think about your sins, if you purpose to think through all the good things that have happened to you as a result of your sin and all the benefits you have received as a result, if you think about how confident and happy you are now because of your sins, what conclusions do you come to? Don’t things become obvious when you ask this question?
What sin have we ever committed that we aren’t ashamed of afterwards? Who can look back on his or her failures and disobediences to the scriptures and have a confidence about them? Who can say, “I’m glad I lusted after than person and made those lewd comments toward them,” or “I’m so happy I was out of control and full of anger toward my child when they spilled the milk,” or “I’m so glad I made those cutting remarks to so and so, they deserved them!” or “I am much happier now that I lied to so and so and took those things from them.” Not the believer. I think only unbelievers can look back on their sin and feel confident about it being the right thing to do; for that matter, unbelievers sin and won’t even acknowledge it to be sin, they will justify their behavior as being the right thing to do, even though it is directly opposed to the scriptures and the principle of loving others.
Think about your sins. Think about the benefits that you are now enjoying as a result of your sin. Who among us doesn’t have things they long to be able to do over or take back or to not have done or said, things we did that were clearly wrong and clearly sin? Regrets, shame, guilt, and the like all come directly as a result of sin, and then these can further lead to discouragement, depression, loneliness, bitterness, and even despair. Who enjoys those consequences? And if we don’t have those feelings after we sin and disobey God’s commandments, then I would seriously wonder whether or not you are a true Christian.
The Holy Spirit within the believer will convict us of sin and show us our wrong-doing. We may have blind spots, someone may have to say something to us, we may need some teaching in a particular area to see that our behavior, words, or thinking is sin, but once it is pointed out, I am under the belief that a Christian’s response will be to feel a conviction, a remorse, a burden, a stirring to repent and make things right. I am not saying that we will never sin in that way again, but after our sin we again will feel that conviction and know that we have sinned. Maybe I am wrong about this, but a Christian continuing in sin and hardening their hearts to it and not feeling guilt or remorse at some point along the way is an idea that I have a very hard time accepting.
Take time to think through the benefits of your sin. Think long and hard about how glad you are that you sinned and how much benefit you derived from it. When you think of sin in this way, you realize that afterwards you are left with nothing but loss and regret; sin is too costly to us, and it is just not worth it, no matter how necessary or justified or logical or urgent the temptation facing us seems to be. The time will soon come when all of our reasons justifying the sin will seem foolish to us, and we will see the deception as it really is. Let’s hope we do so before we sin, and not after.