Why Are Sins, Sins?

Written by Ava

What is a sin? To God, sinning is the willful disobedience of His laws. While there are many sins, I have chosen to focus on “The Seven Deadly Sins” to illustrate the significance behind my seven-ring earrings.

Pride is the first of the seven deadly sins. The definition of pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's achievements. Being proud of an accomplishment confused me at first, as I wondered why it would be considered a sin. However, after deeper research, I have come to understand that being proud of yourself for an accomplishment while recognizing that God has helped you achieve that goal is not a sin. The aspect that determines it as a sin is being prideful of an accomplishment while refusing to recognize that God leads you to success. Denying God's guidance in one's success is what makes pride a sin. Being proud of yourself is a positive thing, as long as you acknowledge that God has helped you reach that accomplishment.

The second reason pride is considered a sin is if one takes pride in a sin. For example, murder is very obviously a sin. If someone were to be proud of taking another person's life, God would not be forgiving of a prideful murderer. It is important for us as humans to understand that pridefulness regarding a sin will not allow us to enter Gods kingdom unless we ask for forgiveness. We must give our accomplishments to God! Without Him, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

The second sin out of the seven is greed. As believers in Christ, it is important to understand that the world's definition of greed and the Bible’s definition of greed are two completely different concepts. The world sees greed as selfishness with no exceptions. For example, if I were shopping at the mall, found the last viral lip gloss everyone was talking about, and grabbed it just before another girl tried to take it, my decision to buy it wouldn’t be greedy in the way the Bible describes greed. However, by the world's definition, my action would most definitely be considered greedy. When God talks about greed, He doesn’t mean buying the last lip gloss; He is referring to having a selfish desire for something that does not benefit you. Why? Because greed is a bad distraction that consumes your mind!

There was an occasion when I really wanted to go shopping and get some food from Chick-fil-A. After finishing my meal, I planned on going to the mall next door to shop. I saw a homeless man on the side of the road outside Chick-fil-A begging for money. My first thought was, “I'm sure somebody will give him money.” I wondered how many people had thought the same thing. If everyone is thinking that, who will be the one to help him? Why would I spend my extra savings on something I don't need while hoping somebody else will help him? This homeless man is struggling to buy his next meal. Instead of being greedy and spending my money on clothes and makeup that I really don’t need, I decided to help him out. He’s not just a homeless man; he’s somebody’s child, and most importantly, he’s a child of God. I chose to use my savings to buy him a hot, fresh, and delicious meal because a starving man is worth more than some clothes at the mall. Not only did I avoid committing the sinful act of greed, but I also felt amazing after helping someone. That feeling was more fulfilling than any clothes or makeup could provide. In the end, I realized that greed doesn’t just hurt God; it also hurts people in need.

The third sin is lust. To many people, sex isn’t considered sacred anymore. Hookups, one-night stands, and even relationships are often centered around sex and sexual desires. The majority of the world believes that sex itself is a sin, which isn’t true at all! Sex is a beautiful thing created for reproduction. God designed sex to be pleasurable within marriage. When sex is present in a relationship outside of marriage, it becomes lustful. Lust is an unholy and sexual desire towards another human being or even oneself. Engaging in premarital sex or feeling lustful towards someone destroys your ability to love a person for who they are because you are focused on pleasure rather than true love. The reason lust is a sin is that you cannot find a Godly connection when you are lusting after someone for what they are. Sex was created to be something a married couple does to express their true love and bond. Once you have sex with someone, your souls become tied, and that bond cannot be undone. In Christianity, marriage is an unbreakable bond; therefore, the connection of sex is magical within marriage. God did not create sex to be seen as bad; He wants us to love and grow families. It’s important to understand that sex before marriage isn’t inherently bad! There is, however, a possibility of heartbreak when you aren’t devoted to your soulmate in marriage. After that relationship ends, a piece of you leaves with them. God created sex within marriage to save us from heartbreak. He has told us our bodies are kingdoms that are beautiful and valuable, and He wants us to save ourselves for our future spouse to show our devotion and love. Divorce is still possible in a marriage, but in Christianity, forgiveness plays a crucial role. The Bible considers divorce only in exceptional circumstances, such as sexual immorality. When you are married under God, your bond is much stronger. It is important to remember that you are not seen as less than in God's eyes if you have chosen not to wait. It is a sin because He wants to save us from heartbreak, not because He doesn’t want us to experience pleasure in love!

The fourth deadly sin is envy. Envy is not being grateful for who you are as a person and what you have, but instead wishing you could be or be similar to somebody else. Similar to greed, you want something you clearly do not need to be! We are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God! The reason envy is such a sin is that hating yourself is terrible. God made us for a purpose, and everyone on this earth has a reason. Whether we choose to follow God's purpose or disobey, we were all created to be ourselves, not someone else! As Christians, we obviously don't want to commit sins. I have concluded that God wants us to understand how important we are as individuals. It’s a sin to want to be someone else when we were individually created for different reasons. I don't think God considers it bad to want to be someone else, but rather upsetting, because it saddens Him to know that His child doesn’t want to be themselves.

The fifth deadly sin is gluttony. When I first heard the term gluttony, I assumed it was about overeating, given that the definition of gluttony is excessive eating. I think God's words are magnificently descriptive. He wasn't just talking about obesity; He was addressing selfishness. God's explanation relates to the idea that you do not need more than you are given. If you have extra clothes, you should share them with those who have none. If you have extra food, you should give it to those who have not enough or none at all. I’ve found that Luke 3:11 describes this perfectly. God expanded on the definition of gluttony, but He didn’t exclude the fact that excessive eating is still gluttony. It is true, in many—not all—situations, that we do not need more than we are given, of course excluding the need for extra attention during certain situations. But we do not need more than we are given, particularly regarding food, because a strong desire for extra food withholds resources from those who need it. Gluttony is a contributing factor to food insecurity. Everything in the Bible is written with purpose; therefore, God has given us all the answers to fix these issues; we just need to agree and live by them. God has provided the means to address world hunger; it's just that not everyone follows it. God doesn’t “not provide enough food.” He does, but we don't share it evenly or correctly, leading to world hunger. One time, I was asked, “Well, if God is real, why can't He provide more food?” The answer is that we don’t need more; we need to spread it evenly. If God gave us more food, there would likely be even more gluttony! It is our duty to divide resources evenly, not God's. He provides, and we must act. It is people's poor choices that lead to world hunger, not God's.

The sixth deadly sin is wrath. I was confused by this one as well because I know that God has been angry with the world before. Does that mean God committed a sin? But God is perfect, so He couldn't commit a sin, right? I found myself confused but interested in getting to the bottom of this question. Wrath itself is not a sin. If your partner cheated on you, of course you would be angry! You have just been betrayed. If somebody lied to you or stole something from you, of course you would be angry! The emotion of anger itself is not the sin. The sinful part of anger arises when it is directed towards paying back evil for evil. It’s okay to be mad when you find out your partner cheated on you, but keying their car in anger is a sin. We shouldn’t pay back evil for evil. The same goes for a lie or a stolen item. Yes, anger is a human emotion that is a reaction to something, but acting out of anger is wrong. We cannot hurt someone else because we are hurt, and we shouldn’t retaliate because we are hurt. Forgiveness is a significant part of recovery in the Bible. Forgiveness allows us to see more openly and happily. I believe everyone would agree that living a forgiving life is much more pleasing than an angry life. Forgiveness can be challenging, but it happens over time. God understands us; that’s why anger itself isn't a sin—because He knows it reflects how we feel after something happens. Even God has felt anger!

The last of the seven deadly sins is sloth. Laziness rejects God's gift of time. We are only on this earth for a short amount of time before we enter the kingdom of Heaven or, unfortunately, the pit of fire. God isn’t talking about a lazy day or a lazy week after a hard situation; He’s talking about excessive laziness when there are important tasks to be done, as it affects everyone around us. If a mother decided to be excessively lazy, how would her children be cared for? If a teacher were excessively lazy, how would their students learn? If a doctor were excessively lazy, how would their patients heal? Excessive laziness distracts us from all we are meant to accomplish. We must take care of our priorities.

The conclusion I have drawn from God is that not all sins are inherently bad, but they can lead to negative outcomes. Certain actions are labeled as sins to prevent bad outcomes, not because they are bad in themselves. God created ways to prevent and rectify situations to keep us on the right track. The label of sin serves to show us that these actions might seem right at the moment but can lead to harmful consequences.