The Malignancy of Sin

We are now in our 7th week of reading and discussing Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate in the Tuesday Women's Study classes. One chapter in particular has made a deep impression upon me. It is entitled "The Malignancy of Sin." Basically, it lays out the danger of tolerating and denying the sins that we commit each and every day. Here is the section that has gripped me:

"Sin is a spiritual and moral malignancy. Left unchecked, it can spread throughout our entire inner being and contaminate every area of our lives. Even worse, it often will 'metastasize' from us into the lives of other believers around us. None of us lives on a spiritual or social island. Our attitudes, words, and actions, and oftentimes even our private unspoken thoughts, tend to have an effect on those around us."

Within this one paragraph there are at least two pretty scary insights. First, like cancer of the body, sin rarely gets better on its own. If not treated, it will get worse. If not dealt with, our lives can be ruined.

Secondly, unlike cancer of the body, sin can spread to others. I don't know of any physical cancer that is contagious (although I could be wrong). Obviously we catch the flu and colds and lots of other diseases from others. But sin is almost always contagious. Bad company certainly does corrupt good morals.

So what is the treatment for this awful disease of sin? That is the subject of the next chapter, and the next blog post. Stay tuned for the good prognosis!