Sin Is Sin

Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.  They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.  They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.

- Romans 1:29-31 -

Society has a tendency to rank sin.  We have all been caught thinking of one thing or another and end up categorizing it in our head.  We think of murder, theft and adultery as being "big" sins while we ignore or brush aside those things such as gossip, quarreling, hate, and envy.  In fact, most of the things we do, we tend to ignore, unless it involves breaking the law in some way.  But God takes sin seriously.  He does not rank our sins and sees them all the same.  Read the list of sins in the scripture above and pick out those things that you have done in the last week.  Have you argued with someone, have you envied a friend for that vacation she is taking soon, are you greedy with your money and belongings, is there someone you hate or refuse to make amends with, have you gossiped or deceived?  Have you forgiven that person that hurt you, do you keep your promises to your spouse to love honor and cherish till death do you part?  Some of the "everyday" sins that take place in our life, the one's we may no longer even recognize as sin, those are the same things that God walked away from (v 28).  He abandoned his people when they stopped acknowledging Him.  He left and said let them do the things that should never be done and so they continued sinning.   

My eyes are opened today as I read this scripture!  I know that there are a few things listed above that I have taken part in over the last several days.  Some of the things I have become so accustomed to that I don't even recognize them as sins.  But, in reality, every one of them are the reason we are heading into Good Friday.  Every sin I have committed, "big or little", put Jesus on the cross.  There is not one thing that put Him there over another.  That man's affair, that mother's murder of her unborn child, that thief's armed robbery.........they all put Jesus on the cross with the same hammer and nails as my gossip, unforgiveness, quarreling, and broken promises.  

Dear God, thank you for this new day that I might see my sins through Your eyes.  Forgive me for ranking my sins and other's.  Forgive me for judging others when I have a plank in my own eye.  Reveal to me the things that offend you and give me the strength to change my ways.  Show me how to love and honor you with my whole life.  Transform my heart and mind.  In Jesus' Name    Amen