AVOIDING SIN
…and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
Proverbs 4:14b-15
To be honest, I don’t do so well at avoiding sin (evil). I look at it and then find that I want to see just how close I can come without participating in it. It could be unhealthy thoughts (anger, bitterness, retribution, etc.), books, or magazines that I know are unhealthy, or websites that speak to the non-spiritual side of me.
I know I’m not alone in this struggle. Most of us refuse to turn at the first sign of entering into sinful territory. We believe we can handle it, only to find whatever it is, has sunk its invisible hooks in us, and we return again and again. When this happens, we feel like a failure. So how do we deal with this?
The first thing we need to do is recognize we aren’t strong enough to enter into the sinful territory without being hooked. That’s what Proverbs 4:14b-15 tells us. Just avoid the trap. Yet if we don’t and we fail, what do we do? It’s actually simple. We confess our failure from a broken and crushed heart. We ask for forgiveness and accept it…even when we repeat the same sin. We do this because we know there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less. We accept his forgiveness with tears in our eyes, and we do what He has called us to do. Move forward on the path He has set for us.