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What sin is..
Evil, wrong and sin are there in the life
of everyone born into the world. We see this in all the hatred and
violence, greed and selfishness in the world. We see it as we look at our
own lives, if we are really honest with ourselves. It is a part of our
very nature. I sin when I come short of God's standard. "All have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God."
If the pass mark for an exam is 50 and you get 49 marks, you have failed.
If someone else gets 5 marks, he has failed too. It is no good you saying,
'I did much better than the one who got 5.' You have both failed.
You may think you are not so bad, better than most, but that's not the
point, for not one of us has come anywhere near God's perfect standard -
Jesus Christ. We can't even come up to our own standards. We may not have
done anything especially wicked. We are sinners because we are just not
good enough.
I sin when I do what I want. The Bible says, "Each of us has turned to his
own way" (Isaiah 53:6).
Doing what I want; this is the cause of our trouble, unhappiness and
quarrels.
Sin is not just killing, stealing, or telling lies. I sin when I live to
please myself rather than God.
I sin when I can't be bothered with God or with other people; when I say,
'I'm my own boss; it's my life; I can do what I like with it' - this is
SIN - I in the middle - me first.
I sin when I do not love God with all my heart. Jesus said, 'You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment' (Matthew
22:37-38).
Not one of us has loved God like this. We have all broken the great
commandment. We are all self-centred rather than God-centred.
 
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