Small and Simple Things

Common Definitions of Sin : Doing something bad, breaking commandments of God. A great majority of individuals have an oversimplified view of sin. It is commonly defined as doing something bad, something that harms other people, or something that goes contrary to God's commandments. For example, if I punch my brother, insult a friend, or steal from the store, these actions would typically be classified as sins and we naturally feel a need and even desire to repent. Repentance According to this scenario : Feel bad, say you're sorry and try to stop doing the negative action.  When we talk about grievous sins like murder, rape, or adultery, the repentance process holds consistent. Feel really bad, be really sorry, and try extra hard to stop doing the negative action. This is true. Those actions are sins and we have need to repent when we commit them, but the definition of sin and the scenarios above greatly simplify and cheap the true definition and experience of repentan...

Earlier this month, I was reading through the scriptures when I came across a verse that we all know. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:38) The Lord, in this verse, is inviting us to covenant with Him, to be made whole through Him, and to be like Him. It is a beautiful invitation given to us in the form of a commandment. I was thinking about the beauty of that invitation when it hit me.  Are all commandments invitations to be like God?  In other words, is God simply telling us who He is and inviting us to adopt the applications that will help us become like Him? It hit my heart as my perspective on commandments shifted.  If commandments are God's way of describing Himself to us, they are less about a mean God telling us what to do and more about a loving God inviting us to walk in His footsteps to become like Him. All too often we imagine a God who sits upon His throne, tells us what to do, and then punish...