Do you ever hear the words “sin” or “righteousness” and struggle with them? Sometimes, I do.
These words are used throughout the Bible. Even though I’m a Christian, occasionally I balk at these words.
It seems to me that there are two reasons for this. The first one is that our culture in America is in love, (pronounced looooove) with tolerance. Whether it’s the majority (or the loud minority), I’m not sure. But there are loud voices that want us to believe every person should be allowed to do whatever feels right to them.
No Stepping on Toes
Moral standards of right and wrong are not to be tolerated, because someone’s toes get stepped on, they might get “cheated” out of a teensy bit of their freedom. This is certainly not allowed or tolerated. We are after all, the land of the free – we are the nation that guarantees everyone’s freedom.
Start a Stampede
Take a stand for right or wrong and people will start clamoring faster than a egg frying on a hot sidewalk that we are judgmental and hate-filled. You can start a stampede if you throw in the word sin or righteousness. So I get scared to use those words. And I wonder how to conceptualize these words even for myself to make them understood as important and valuable.
I also occasionally have a problem with sin and righteousness, because if I’m honest there is something in my human nature that rebels against anyone finding fault with me!
So I keep pondering and praying on this. How can I find a way to understand sin and understand righteousness in a way that doesn’t make me balk?
So I start with what I do know about righteousness:
Righteousness is doing the right thing at the right time. (For this we need God.)
As my pastor/counselor/mentor is always sharing with me – our responsibility is to know what time it is.
If it’s time for justice, then we must have justice; if it’s time for mercy, then we must have mercy; if it’s time for truth, then we must have truth, if it’s time for responsibility and discipline, then responsibility and discipline we must have, if it’s time for grace, then we must have grace, and if it’s time for love, then we must have love.
What Time Is It?
We can only know what is called for in a particular circumstance as God reveals it to us. We are told in the Bible, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. (See John 14:6.) This means that we need Him in every circumstance to know what the right thing is, what the wrong thing is, and therefore, what time it is.
I have seen circumstances in my life where what God calls for me to do one time, He does not call me to do the next time. I must stay close to Him to hear His voice and know the right way.
How do you feel about the words sin and righteousness? Do they make you feel uncomfortable?
In your circumstances – what time is it?
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