Sometimes I wonder why one sins. Is it because it’s fun? Is this the easiest path to follow? Is it one’s way of doing things that makes you do the wrong things more easily?

It’s as if your default is to sin. God didn’t make us that way. I suspect that it was Adam and Eve’s poor choices in the Garden of Eden that punched our human default on the nose and changed it forever.

Therefore, the first choice between right and wrong is usually the latter – often with catastrophic consequences. Usually, many people who weren’t even directly involved in the choice are badly hurt.

Like the guy who allowed a woman to get too close to him. Now the children are part of the statistics. They no longer know where they came from and even less what their messed-up path will look like in future.

Or the guy who added another zero to the books. Many invested their money with him, only to find out later that it was a lie. Greed got the upper hand. Now many are without the money that would’ve taken care of their retirement. A friend of mine who had retired now has to start looking for work again.

That guy acted from his default. It was wrong and a lot of people lost their money because of his wrong choices.

We must take a stand against this default every moment of the day. I suspect it’s a lifelong struggle. We must never get too comfortable, because temptation waits just around the next corner, and before we know it, we’ve stepped into the trap again.

God says we must be like Him. ¹⁶God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” God is without sin.

His default hasn’t been damaged and changed even less. We who are children of God must be like Him. We must act like Him. We must do and say as He does and says. Be holy, for He is holy.

We must do things that are acceptable to God.

A friend of mine was visiting from Australia and we talked about how we’re bringing up our children and what a big task it is, especially amid all the influences that come flying in on their phones one after the other.

He had a good suggestion. He said that he tried never to burden his son with a lot of do’s and don’ts. However, when his son is on his way out somewhere, he only says: Make me proud, son!

That’s exactly what we have to do. We must make God proud when He looks at us. He must be proud when He sees how we resist our default and the temptations.

With the help of His Holy Spirit who lives in us, we can live a life that makes God proud.

Scripture
1 Peter 1:13-16

Reflection
What does your list of sins look like?
How can you get rid of it?
How can you live holier?

Prayer
Father, I want to be like You. I want to live like You, yet I fall back to my previous default all too frequently. Help me, please, that I don’t do this so often. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.