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SATURDAY PHOTO HUNT–BIRDS |
4:49 pm
BIG VS. LITTLE
The women in my small group are such a blessing to me. They listen and share and encourage in such a godly way. I cannot begin to imagine dealing with some of life’s trials without them. We’ve started up a book study too. We’re reading and discussing the book Brokenness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
Part of this morning’s discussion was about sin…..big sins vs. little sins.
Do you classify them like that?
Oh, maybe little sins are lying, impatience, and worry.
And the big sins would be…what?…. murder, infidelity, and taking the Lord’s name in vain.
Let’s say you are prone to lying or pride or gluttony….can you look down your nose at someone who had an affair and think, “Hey, at least I’m not that bad.”
What about this verse:
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Thoughts? Discussion? Whatcha think?
What a great discussion! I don’t believe there is such a thing as little sin and big sin. Sin is sin. Whether you lie or murder, you are still sinning. The Bible says in Proverbs 6:16-19
16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. (KJV)
Abomination in this passage actually mean to make vomit. I don’t believe God sees it as big and little sins and neither should we. Instead of being concerned with big or little, do they count or not, we just concern ourselves with not sinning.
Karen, I love your blog. Great topic! I am looking forward to starting a small ladies group in the future!
I think…that the ground at the foot of the cross is level.
As much as we like to classify and grade sin, it all breaks fellowship with God.
I love Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I’ve listened to Revive Our Hearts Radio (on the Internet!) every morning for the last several months and I have learned more in those months than I think I’ve learned in my whole Christian life up till now! It’s become a staple in my devotions. I love her style of teaching ~ definitely convicting, but so inspiring and encouraging at the same time.
Just as there is no distinction between little sin and big sin, there is also no distinction between acted-upon sin and thought-about sin.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You should not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5:27-28)
and…
For from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile you. (Mk 7:21-23)
so it’s no wonder that…
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
and…
There in no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)
But just when it seems all hope is lost, the GOOD NEWS arrives…
All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24)
in fact…
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
and…
It is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
So how do you claim the gift?
You simply believe that…
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)
I think that you guys covered it well! I would perhaps add that as humans it is very natural to weigh sin. I recently finished reading A.W. Tozer’s “Attributes of God.” Many times he mentioned that we finite beings measure everything because that is how we can bring understanding to it. God, of course, is immeasurable. That was his point, but I think the idea of measurement applies here, too. We are finite and we like to bring order and understanding to our world, so we measure everything, including sin. For the purposes of earthly discipline, that’s good. But if we allow those measurements to have any bearing on our relationship with God, then there is a problem and we are in error. That’s my two cents!
I too really like Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I will have to add this book to my list!
[...] only to discover that it wasn’t on my bookshelf as I had thought! My friend Karen posted a blog some time ago based on a book that she was reading, Brokenness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, which caused [...]