August 4th, 2024

7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

As humans, we have the tendancy for sin ingrained in our being, by our own free will, we will naturally find that sin runs its course through our choices that are void of God's involvement. If we are mad at someone who did something very wrong, we have the urge to cause them suffering. If we are put into the right situation, the desire for sin comes naturally, as if it is coded in us from the start. When we as humans came out of Eden, that was the result of our will to sin, to be cast in a decaying world. To do good as God wishes you is certaintly more difficult than to live a sinful life, with being a brother or sister of Christ, comes more challenges than to simply not care and live life stagnantly within the limits of the civic laws we have set. It is easier to break down a building that to construct it. Christ makes it very aware in the gospels that following him is not the easy path. He talks about how different body parts causing you to sin should be cut off, as it is better to live without that than to be thrown into hell. While not literal, it conveys a very important message about the sacrifices we must take as Christians in order to live out and ennact our faith that makes us righteous in the eyes of the Lord. For example, if you find yourself being with people that bring out the worst in you and cause you to sin, do not simply do nothing about it, try to speak to them about how you feel and if not, then do not associate with what will cause you to sin. Rather than letting yourself buy all the junk food you want, allowing yourself to later 'play god' at home and show gluttony, simply limit yourself from doing that. Of course living a sinless life is impossible for us, but if we truly believe in what Christ has done for us, we will realize that we owe our lives and should live as slaves to him. To live the way God wishes you to live is not always what we want to do, or what we even think will cause us happiness, but it is giving respect and praise to who deserves it, and is always the better option in the bigger picture, beyond our life as a human currently.
Jesus later talks about how finding that lost sheep is a massive blessing. This refers to how it is much more of a miracle for someone to float from the depths of sin they have put their life into, and put their trust in God. Christ has shown forgiveness beyond what we can comprehend, dying for people who are inherently sinful, so through that we can find that it is an absolute miracle that anyone, no matter how sinful, can realistically have the Holy Spirit work in them so that they can show true repentance in their heart and do everything in their power to live like Christ. This includes the overbearing forgiveness He has for us. If Christ is able to find forgiveness in anyone who shows true faith in Him and trys to life their life through His influence, then we must try to show forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Again, this may not be the easiest or the most sensical option to our sinful hearts, but through our complete trust in Christ, we can show understanding and give the opportunity for forgiveness. The distinction is not to forgive, even if the other person does not feel bad for how they hurt you, but to offer forgiveness through their repentance, as Christ does. All of humanity was not instantly relieved of all the weight our sins cause, but we were given the opportunity to be forgiven and to be righteous before God through faith in Him.

“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:6-11)

Being a Christian is no easy task, to confront yourself and admit a constant imperfection in your every breath, to risk humiliation and limitation for what may seem nice to us, to live as a servant to God, it is all scary, but we find comfort in the way He reveals Himself in this world and the promises he make with us if we life by His word. I see the cuts of my sin ripple through the world and only through God can I get stitches, only if I put my complete faith in Him. I often find my instincts of my life before all this naturally clawing their way into my thoughts, contradicts the influences that God has had on my life and I feel shame. I hope to be able to sacrifice what is necessary to life a faithful life to Christ. It is the most important thing. Thank you and i'm sorry.