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Many people's attitude towards sin seems to be as described in Ecc.8:11, "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." Even many Christians who know about the seriousness of sin seem to think only in terms of the last judgment day, and imagine that they have plenty of time to receive forgiveness. But let's not forget the justice of God and fool ourselves into thinking that we can make use of God's mercy and get away with our sins! Sin kills us every time we yield, and we suffer at different levels as a consequence. We get farther away from God in our heart, our mind gets corrupted, our relationships suffer, we face natural consequences, and then the final judgment will also come (Ro.2:5-8). But if we look only at the final judgment, we will not be aware of all the damage we are accumulating for ourselves right now! "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Ga.6:7).

If our heart is tender, the moment we sin we begin to feel guilt, shame, fearful about God, wanting to hide, anxious if we will be found out, etc. Think of the tension we will carry in our mind as a result, and the peace we lose. Think of how our sin may result in spoiling our relationship with other people, including those we love. Think of how the justice system of this world may catch up with us. When we look at how these work out, can't we see that the pleasure or the advantage our sin gave us was not worth it? Sin's pleasure is temporary, but the consequences last a very long time.

The more we sin, the less sensitive we become in our heart towards it. If we have not been caught earlier because of our sins, we become bolder to believe that now nothing will happen. Our guilt and shame were inside our heart, and when we see that others have not noticed them, we begin to think that we don't have to worry much about such things. Slowly our conscience becomes hardened, and sin troubles us less and less. We deal with the future problem of God's judgment by saying a quick prayer for forgiveness, and we think we are all set to move on, continuing to sin and heaping more and more damage to ourselves, which we learn to ignore. But God's laws of life are still working (Ro.2:9,10).

Our heart and mind become more corrupt, peace and joy leave us, relationships become more distraught. Is sin worth it?

Now think of how we ought to live after we have been born again, and God has given us a new heart that makes us sensitive to sin again. We learn that God's plan for us is not merely to forgive us but also to set us free from the power of sin (Ro.6:14). We recognise our need to learn not to give place to sin our life (Ro.6:12,13). Then we will find joy and peace increasing in our life, and our relationships becoming stronger. We will slowly discover that God's ways are best and deviations are troublesome for us.

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