Justification: An Abomination

Luke 16:15
And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

As we walk this earth, it is our responsibility to know what is God’s will and what is not. I was not brought up on a foundation of Christ. It was rather hit-n-miss for the most part. Mostly, miss. I was different than most of my family. As far back as I can remember I loved God and had a great curiosity of what Christianity was all about. My mom and Grandma Moench were probably the only real influencers of that curiosity when I was young. Grandma had these little books called Our Daily Bread on top of the toilet tank. I loved reading those short daily devotionals whenever we visited her in Minnesota. My mother had a beautiful family Bible on the living room coffee table. I wish I had that Bible now but Rufus Q. chewed it up when he was a puppy. My mom was heartbroken. I knew that book was special to her. It was special to me too for inside of it held all the answers to my curiosities.

My curiosity only intensified as I grew older. I searched in a variety of places to find answers that made rational sense, which I found very little of. That all changed greatly once I came into contact with a preacher who did make sense.

I was a journalist for a little hometown newspaper and I had my own column. Actually, I was their experiment. They were trying to expand their paper into another region. My home region. I was to go out and write stories of people in this rural area. And of course, sell ads. (I am not a seller.)

My first story was with the preacher. Meeting him changed everything for me. He answered my many questions, while referring to the Bible, and the Bible started coming to together like a beautifully knitted sweater or a puzzle with its many scattered pieces. I became a Christian and began to find peace. And so life moved forward. Through my own growth over the years, and watching the lives of others, I have gained a better understanding of God’s will.

I’ve learned though that even those who profess God’s goodness, fall. Intentional sin. And with the fall often there is much justification and rationalizing on their part to lessen the ramifications of their sin. But you simply cannot outsmart or outshine God. Nor can talk your way out of a sinful heart. You may fool other people by gaining their sympathy, but not God. He sees through the mask and straight to your heart.

These justifications (excuses) for sinning will not work:
*Because of this, I did this… *He did this to me so I did this.
*I deserve this after what I’ve been through.
*I’ll repent later.
*This isn’t as bad as what she did.
*Just this once…
*This will be my last time.
*Fix this God so I don’t do this.

Never ever can you rationalize sin by committing sin.

As humans, we have a tendency to rate sin. We have our own way of rating sin on a scale of 1-10, personalized for our own convenience. My scale of 1-10 might differ from yours and vise-versa. God does not rate sin, nor does He acknowledge our scale. Sin is sin in God’s eyes. He is our fair and just God. His unit of measurement has to be consistent in order to be fair. Lying is the same as gluttony. Murder is the same as committing adultery. You cannot get around this no matter how hard you try to convenience yourself or others. Even if you have people supporting you, Christian or not, you absolutely were not given the power to rate or categorize sin.

I acknowledge that I have tried to rationalize sin over the years. And if you are honest with yourself (and with God) you will confess that you too have rationalized sinful behavior whether done publicly or in private.

God sees your heart and mine. There is no escape. Sin is sin.

What is justified and approved by man, is an abomination to God.

God knows our hearts. Let’s not support those who are knowingly and willingly in sin. Sin might only affect them in judgment but here on earth, sin has a trickle effect. One person’s sin can negatively affect the lives of many people. And if your sin causes a child to believe that sin is okay, then you have even more to be held accountable for.

Maybe this is not your struggle or burden, but there are those who suffer greatly. We need to acknowledge that sin is sin no matter what it is or who is doing it. It’s a tough row to hoe sometimes but a home in Heaven with Jesus will be so worth it. ♥️

Andi