To the Ends of the Earth: Action – Week 2, Day 2 – We Must Avoid the Birth of Sin

You meet him that joyfully works righteousness,

     those that remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

     in our sins we have been a long time,

     and shall we be saved?

We have all become like one who is unclean,

     and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf,

     and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

There is no one that calls upon your name,

     that bestirs himself to take hold of you.

Isaiah 64:5–7

Sin is a slippery slope that leads into a pit of destruction. It is a choice we make each and every time. It is not a work of God but part of our fallen nature. Once our desire surrenders to evil, we give birth to sin our lives, and if we allow it to linger, it will destroy us.

Proverbs 7 speaks of the seduction of a senseless and foolish man by an adulterous woman. The passage goes into great detail about the man’s steady journey into sin. He makes his way secretly to her house, hears her seductive words, is enticed by what his senses take in, and then gives in to the sin of adultery. He is compared to an animal stepping into a snare and being captured, never to recover. This describes how sin works in our lives. It presents itself as a pleasurable experience, slowly drawing us into the trap it sets for us. We think it is something good, yet if we give ourselves over to it, ultimately it destroys our lives until our bodies, our minds, and our souls are left in utter turmoil.

We must remember that the temptation to sin does not come from God (Jas 1:13), but from the world, the flesh, or the devil. When we give in to temptation, we have only our weak, sinful nature to blame. Yet when we repent, God takes the pain and devastation of sin and, through grace, transforms us and helps us persevere to the end. Let us remember that we are fallen men, incapable of accomplishing anything good outside of Christ. And let us thank God that in Christ we are set free to overcome sin and become men of integrity and purpose once more.

Questions for Reflection

What are some of your biggest struggles with temptation?

Do you ever blame God when you fall into sin? Why? What do you need to do to accept your own blame and surrender yourself to God’s mercy?

How has God used the graces of the sacrament of Confession to transform you?

How have your brothers in the Faith helped you to let go of sin and rely on grace?

Praying with Scripture

Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph 2:3)

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