The Beginning of Sin

The Beginning of Wrongdoings

Being spiritual, an individual must have been accountable to God, that is, not doing “all” the wrong and unrighteous things in life. Unfortunately, the reality is that any individual, irrespective of the intensity of spirituality, must still have done “some” of the wrong and unrighteous things at some point in his or her life simply because that individuality has been living in the flesh.

So, how do humans begin to sin?

Many begin to sin while thinking that they’re “committing no crime or wrongdoing with no victim.”

A hypothetical illustration

Say, two men were sitting close to each other, and they were the last two persons at the bar. The man had just paid the bartender who returned with his credit card. Now, the other man paid the bartender who just left with his credit card. Then, the man, who just got back his credit card, left some cash on the table, said goodnight to the other man, and left the bar.

The other man looked at the cash close to him. Now, he “pushed” the cash left by the man who had just left “a little bit closer to him.” The bartender returned with the man’s credit card, looked at the cash in front of him, and said: “Thank you, Sir.” The man responded: “You’re welcome. Good night.” And the man left the bar.

Here are the realities:

The last man who left the bar did not give the bartender any tip.

The bartender received the same amount of tip.

With or without the last man pushing the cash “a little bit closer” to him, the bartender would still have said: “Thank you, Sir.”

So, nothing had changed, except the position of the cash.

Here are questions for reflection:

Did the man do anything wrong by changing the position of the cash? Yes!

What was wrong with changing the position of the cash? Changing the mind and the perception of the bartender made the man feel “respected and important” (the Sin of Pride). And changing her mind was also controlling (the Sin of Lust for Power and Control).

Was the man able to pay the bartender the tip? Most probably yes! Subconsciously, however, the man might be envious of the man who had paid his tip so voluntarily (the Sin of Envy). And withholding the payment of his tip was also covetousness (the Sin of Greed).

Changing the position of the cash might seem trivial and insignificant—a "crime with no victim." But that’s how all humans begin committing their sins because all humans have both a conscious mind and a subconscious mind. The conscious mind with clarity of thinking may know what’s right and wrong, but the subconscious mind with its misbeliefs, myths, and untruths not only dominates the conscious mind but is often controlled by Satan because humans are living in their flesh.

Worse, one minor sin often leads to another and yet another more serious one. The freedom of choice is often held hostage by its bondage to the flesh, where the corrupted body dwells and the origin of the desires and wants of the thinking mind that ultimately change the freedom of choices. No matter how soft or strong the human bondage may be, one bondage always leads to another. The more bondages, the greater their control on the freedom of human choices and decisions, and the more wrong things humans will subsequently do.

One human bondage may lead to another. The more bondages, the greater their control on the freedom of human choices and decisions, and the more wrong things humans will subsequently do.

As an illustration, on July 4, 2022, a 25-year-old Black man in Akron, Ohio, was shot 60 times by 8 policemen. The news was widely reported in the media because the victim was a Black man and the police had presumably used “excess force” to gun him down. The victim, who had no criminal record, was initially stopped at a routine traffic stop. The man didn’t like it, so he decided to choose to get away. Driving away his car and then being chased by the police made him angry, so he chose to fire his gun to stop the police chase. After stopping his car at some point, the man decided to flee on foot. While running, his subconscious mind told him to turn around to do whatever he chose and decided to do. But he was shot dead. The above tragedy could have been avoided if the victim had not taken his initial wrongdoing” to get away, which led to another and yet another wrongdoing that finally led him to his own death.

Living by faith: Acknowledge to God that you're a sinner, and ask for His forgiveness. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the way to walk away from sin. 

Stephen Lau