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Weekly Wisdom from the Word by Pastor Dennis Dodson: The Progression of Sin
Pastor Dennis Dodson
Vice President/ Treasurer
Seeds of Faith, Inc., A Non-Profit Ministry
Colossians 3:16-17
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…”
Dennis Dodson | The Weekly Ledger News | Weekly Wisdom from the Word
Scripture gives us a clear progression of sin. I like to say it starts innocently.
We think it has no effect on anyone but ourselves, but this is never the case.
James 1 tells us that every man is tempted when he is drawn away from his
own lust and enticed. It starts small, with a look, a glance, or a thought. When that
happens the next step is acting upon what we have seen, heard, or thought. Then
when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin. The end of sin is always death. Guard
your heart, and guard your thoughts because you are very close to a thought
becoming an action. Temptation is not a sin, but it can easily lead to sin. For the
flesh, our sinful nature, that is the next logical step. The flesh always serves itself.
We see an example of this in Genesis 37. There has been clear favoritism by
Jacob concerning his children and his wives (37:3-4). Joseph’s brothers have lived
with this for 17 years. Joseph had given an evil slanderous report to his father
concerning his brethren and appears to be rewarded with a special coat (37:2-3).
Joseph had become boss over his brothers. He began having dreams that everyone
in the family would bow down to him. His brothers envied him (37:11). There is
the start of sin. Envy. There is no action until it turns to hatred and then evil
plots to kill him (37:18). Joseph ends up sold to slave traders rather than killed, but
the sin does not end there. The brothers allow Jacob to believe that Joseph is dead
and has been devoured by a wild animal (37:31-33).
See the progression of sin? Envy creates decades of problems for this family.
The consequences are not over. Jacob will grieve for years thinking his son is dead.
The brothers will see every bad situation as punishment from God, and Joseph will
live a life of slavery. Sin always has consequences, and you never know how far-reaching
reaching those will be.