It Does Hurt Others

“What I do in my private life is my business.”

“I’m not hurting anyone.”

“Even if I hurt myself, I’m  not bothering anyone else.”

If you stand for morality, you have no doubt heard phrases like these. In fact, if you are honest, you have probably said (or thought) them yourself, because we all struggle with sin, but we try to keep it private.

When we open our minds, though, we realize that our sin–even private sin–does hurt other people. It may be in ways that are subtle, but sin does not just hurt or harm the one committing it.

Of course, the clearest example of this in Scripture is probably David and his sin with Bathsheba. You could add to the list, but his sin affected himself, Bathsheba, Urriah, the baby, the Israelite army (and army leaders), Nathan, and really the nation as a whole. All of those were harmed by a king who “only” enjoyed one night of passion; who “just” got what he wanted for one night.

But he was a king. He was automatically influential. That doesn’t equate to my life.

Oh, yes, it does.

• When you view pornography, you are robbing your mate (or future mate) of a truly whole sexual relationship. Further, you are wasting time that could be used for good.
• When you drink, even in private, you are changing your body and mind. You might be more irritable or even be harming your physical self. Further, you are using time and money that could be spent with your kids or friends in wholesome activities.
• When you gamble (even just a “little mad money”) you are taking money from the Lord’s Kingdom or from your family.
• When you don’t control your anger, it is not just the wall that suffers. Others are not getting the “best you” they could get.
• When you read “romance” novels (there’s another blog post…that is romance???), you are filling your mind with images and thoughts that are unrealistic, again, robbing your life of a truly wholesome sexual relationship with your spouse.
• When you watch TV shows that mock Christian morals, you are helping to support those who do this, and you are filling your own mind with doubts about the Word of God.

And we could go on and on.

How do we solve it? Pictures.

Pictures? What?

Each time you are tempted to sin, put a picture in your mind of your wife, your children, your future spouse, your friends, your girlfriend, your parents, your church family…

…and of Jesus on the cross.

You see? Sin really does hurt others.

QUESTION: Why do we think our sin will not harm others? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Photo credit: D. Sharon Pruitt on Creative Commons

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