Moment With Betty

 What is sin? –  There are different definitions of sin but the two that caught my attention the most are: 1- It is transgression of God’s law- that is, breaking of God’s law according to 1 John, 3:4. The second one says that sin is the violation of God’s law.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC- 385, “Sin is present in human history and any attempt to ignore it or give this dark reality other names would be futile”. Agreed that sin is present in human history, the question therefore is, since we have been saved by Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross, should we continue to sin and violate God’s law? Absolutely not. However, the loss of the sense of sin has led to the loss of the awareness of the need for salvation, and hence to the forgetfulness of God through triviality. But Christ’s triumph on the Cross is an expression of His mercy towards us, an assurance that “love is stronger than sin.” – www.opusdei.com.

 Indeed, Christ’s triumph on the Cross is our assurance and so His love is stronger than the sin we commit. This supports the fact that we need His mercy to continue to live as Christians.

On the other hand, Mercy is really the fundamental provision that should guide the heart of every person when looking at a sister or brother that we encounter on our journey of life. God Himself is so merciful that He forgives us our sins as soon as we are sorry and asks for forgiveness. So, if God Himself can be merciful to us His creatures, how much more we mere mortals. Remember, what we are told in the prayer which Jesus Himself taught His disciples. I refer to “Our Lord’s Prayer”. Remember the verse where we say, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

This may sound absurd but l tell you, sometimes you come across people probably during your evangelical mission who ask questions such as, “How can l know that something is sin?” Others will say that if the bible did not state what sin is, they wouldn’t have known. When you hear such a statement or question, please, don’t be discouraged or amazed. Try and understand where they are coming from and be patient to explain the word of God to them.  More importantly, show them mercy. If possible, use real life stories as examples to illustrate what is sin to them. l am sure that they will understand much as to know when someone does something that is wrong or inappropriate to a fellow human being.

It is important for us to know that sin separates us from God and exposes us to certain behaviours that are unacceptable by God. Let us put aside what the bible says about sin for a moment and look at sin from a human perspective. A lot of people fail to acknowledge the fact that greed, pride, envy, gluttony, laziness, gossiping, impurity and religious indifference are sins. Even displaying unhealthy rivalry within the family is also sin. But the amazing thing here is that no matter the sin that one commits, the Mercy of God is inexhaustible. God is always ready to forgive whichever sin we commit as long as we are remorseful and sincerely sorry for them. 

We read in the bible when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the tree that God forbade them to eat. When they realized that they had sinned, by allowing the devil to tempt them and convince them to eat the forbidden fruit, they were ashamed of themselves and sorry for what they did and asked for forgiveness and God in His infinite mercy forgave them. What a merciful God we have as Our Father.

The bible reveals to us God’s mercy in Jesus Christ’s name when He sent Jesus to come to the world to save us from our sins.  God’s mercy overcomes the weight of our sins.  Proverbs 28: 13 says “You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show you mercy” Just as the Lord shows us mercy, He expects us to also show mercy to those who wrong us.  This is buttressed in the 8 Beatitudes of Jesus as written in Matthew 5: 3-12, Jesus said” Happy are those who are merciful to others, God will be merciful to them”. Therefore, let it be known my sisters and brothers that the Lord waits to be gracious to us and thus will rise up to show mercy to us but let us also be mindful that much as the Lord is ready and willing to forgive our numerous sins, there is one unforgivable sin and that is the sin against the Holy Spirit. As written in the gospel of Matthew, 12: 31- 32 “For this reason I tell you; people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” I pray therefore that as we journey in this life that we will always look up to God so that we can get His attention and He will show us mercy. Amen.