I have struggled with the concept of sin for a very long time. You see, when I heard sin I hear “evil” and “bad”. I have not been able to separate being evil or bad from being a sinner. I could not understand the true concept of sin and it has held me back from God for a long time. When I was a child, my family and the other occult members that abused me, used the Bible and God’s Word against me. So words like sin and hell were reserved for times when I was disobeying and were used…
When I first came to Christ I was very leery of the idea of sin. For me, sin was something that was used to punish me. I was often told I was a sinner, which was equated to evil, bad, terrible, and holding a one-way ticket to hell. This wasn’t used as a segway into the need for Christ and the mercy and forgiveness He died to give us, it was used as a rod of discipline to keep me in line. The only forgiveness I heard about was being forgiven by obeying the adults in charge of me, and…
How many times have you wondered if God was punishing you? Maybe something bad happens in your life or your prayers aren’t being answered. Maybe you see the tribulation around you in this world and you think ‘Is this God punishing me, my family, or the world at large?’ Well, I’m here to tell you that is absolutely not the case. I have wondered many times if it was God punishing me or if I had done something to anger him. I have experienced much suffering, pain, and tribulation in my life and many times wondered if it was God’s…