Victims of our Own Crime

So what’s wrong with a tiny transgression, just a little lie, or a small deception? I suppose if you’re the perpetrator, that would make the other party the ‘victim.’

But actually, when we sin, we ourselves are the first victims of our own ‘crimes.’

Every sin we commit, regardless of its size, damages our spirit by reinforcing one of the negative pathways in our soul. It takes us a little further into ourselves and a little further away from God. Once we’ve jumped that hurdle of sin for the first time, each additional time becomes easier and easier. Eventually we become the very people we loathe. As a consequence it becomes ever easier to turn our backs on God and everyone else.

Those repetitive sins cause us to distance ourselves and cut ourselves off from the only source of true joy. Just as with a drug addict, it’s a downward spiral that can ultimately leave us in total isolation and trapped inside a hardened heart. My goodness, what better definition is there of hell itself? But God didn’t do this to us. We did it ourselves, once choice at a time, until we become lost in a lifeless and loveless world.

God's attitude towards us never changes. He's always waiting to take us back into His embrace. But it's very hard to escape from a truly hardened heart, as we can see so clearly from observing the Pharisees.

In fact, there's only one way out of that cold, bitter place, and that is by doing what we may have nearly forgotten how to do: looking beyond our own needs to the needs of others, giving instead of taking.

As we begin to do that with God's help, we are in fact returning to the 'scene of the crime' and repairing the damage we've done to others. In the process, our own hearts begin to heal, and more and more we can receive the love that God and His people have been trying to give us all the while.

There's healing and repair work to be done in all of us. Why not let God help!

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God of compassion, grant us peace so that our souls may radiate that peace towards others. Heal us, Lord, so that we may heal others. Love us Lord, for we are sinners, so that we may share Your unwavering love with others. Unite us Lord, so that we may all celebrate Your love as one. Amen

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Alone Time

Having A Good Death

When Friends and Family Are Needed Most

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