The Ugliness of Sin

As a mother, I often think about the world in which my children are growing up and are forming who they will become. I’m a news junkie (and my fairly recent conversion to Twitter has not helped me in that area), and I see story after story of the effects of sin in the world today. One such incidence that would be hard to miss if you keep up with any news at all is the scandal that is currently rocking the sports world within the Penn State football program. There are so many things about the situation that are sickening to me: the alleged molestation of children; the alleged mishandling of reporting of the incidents; and, the protestors who seem to care more about football than young children who may have been assaulted. The actions of many within or near the entire situation are clearly revolting.

I hurt when I think about the day when my children are old enough to ask questions about such situations as the one mentioned above. I want to keep them protected from such sad and evil examples; I want to keep their minds pure. However, I know that I cannot protect them from the world forever, and eventually they will (and must) learn about sin and the consequences of sin. I’m thankful, though, that as they learn about the ugliness of sin, that I can teach them about Someone who can take away sin if we obey Him; Someone who sacrificed His life that we might live – Jesus Christ. As Romans 6:23 states: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 John 4: 7-11: “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”