“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 NIV)

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25 NIV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgiveus our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NIV)

Sin is what separates us from God. Sin is an offense against religious or moral law, specifically an act or state of wrongdoing against God.  Transgression, iniquity, wrongdoing, forbidden, crookedness, breaking the boundaries are all words that describe sin.

Stealing, drinking, drugging, gambling, sexual misconduct, not paying your bills, laziness, self-centeredness, gossip, rudeness, hate, abuse are all sins and yet, what is so sad, is we make excuses for these behaviors trying to justify them, to make them OK—but they are not.  Sin is sin, even if we say or make an excuse, it is still sin.

Think about it, when our actions do not match our beliefs, it creates mental discomfort.  To stop the discomfort, the mind often creates excuses (“just this once,” or “I’ll stop tomorrow”) rather than change the behavior.

We change our behavior through grit, determination, and God.  Because the brain naturally prefers the easyway out, but the easy way is not the right way.

Changing our behavior with God’s help, shifts the burden from our limited will power to His unlimited power. Behavior flows from our thoughts. To change how we act, me must change how we think, for action reveals how we think.  

Change occurs when we replace worldly programming with God’s truth by focusing on God, though scripture, prayer, Christian music, and meditation.  Thus, we can say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me.”  The question we need to ask ourselves is “what is our need to do the very thing that separates us from God—sin.” It is something for us to think about.  God Bless.  Amen.

denise