As she took a sip of her appletini, my friend, a committed Christian, said, “I’m sinning.”
I looked at her in surprise. She nodded, took another sip and repeated it.
“I’m sinning.” No self-justification, no excuses. Just bald fact.
My first thought was, What sin? Alcohol? Not everyone considers alcohol a sin, but if she does, it is a sin for her.
But if someone believes that something is wrong, then it is wrong for that person.
Romans 14:14b Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
So, if it’s a sin, why do it? Probably because she wanted to. My sweet tooth “makes” me do things that are bad for me but I do them anyway – because I want to. And the more I do them, the harder it is not to. As Paul says,
It happens so regularly that it’s predictable.
The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight.
Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
Romans 7:21-23 The Message
Yet Paul goes on to say,
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life
has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 New International Version
No condemnation from God; just freedom. Plenty of condemnation, though, from ourselves. Why is that? Because freedom comes with the responsibility to use it wisely.
“All things are allowed,” you say. But not all things are good.
“All things are allowed.” But some things don’t help anyone.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Not all things are good: Bingeing sweets leads to craving leads to feeling sick.
Some things don’t help anyone: Watching TV shows with offensive (to me) content doesn’t help anyone, especially me.
In other words,
And that’s the best reason I know not to intentionally sin.
After all, who wants to damage a masterpiece?