Over the last few years, we have all heard so much about Covid and its variations. There is much debate about how it was handled and the threat of future pandemics. But could we be at risk from an even greater threat, the risk of catching contagious sins?
These diseases of the soul are just as deadly, even more so, because they can affect us and others for eternity. In today’s post, I’ll talk about 5 contagious sins to watch out for.
Today’s Readings:
Job 11 & 12
Psalm 94.1-11
Proverbs 22.24-25
Romans 10.1-21
5 Contagious Sins. Could You Be at Risk?
Proverbs 22.24-25:
Could You Be at Risk?
Today’s reading contains a warning about a sin that can be highly contagious. Could there be people in your life who are dangerous to your walk with God or, worse yet, could you be a danger to others in regard to this particular sin?
Here are 5 sins, including the one in our Proverbs reading, that can be highly contagious.
5 Contagious Sins
1. Anger.
Today’s passage says:
Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul (vv. 24-25).
Certainly, this can happen on a large scale where people get caught up in what we sometimes call a “mob mentality.” You don’t have to watch many days of news to see examples of this. But it’s right there in the pages of Scripture, too. Mobs stoned Stephen (Acts 7.54-58) and Paul (Acts 14.19) and called for Jesus’ crucifixion (Mk. 15.11-14).
But anger can be caught one on one, as well. You start listening to the other person’s complaints and rants and pretty soon you find yourself angry, too.
2. Gossip.
The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles,
And they go down into the inmost body (Prov. 18.8).
God repeated this verse word for word in Proverbs 26.22.
Gossip is so easy to get caught up in. We want to be the insider, to know the latest juicy tidbit of information, or to feel important by sharing something we know.
Sometimes, we try to spiritualize it by calling it a prayer request or justifying it in some way.
3. Cursing and Other Sins of the Tongue.
If you hang around people who practice sins of the tongue like cursing, complaining, sharing inappropriate jokes, etc., you will become less and less bothered by them and eventually begin to join in.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15.33).
4. Alcohol or Drug Abuse, Gluttony, Overspending, and Other Overindulgences.
Do not mix with winebibbers,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags (Prov. 23.20-21).
This could include other idolatrous ways of finding comfort or relief. I have seen many young women turn to anorexia, bulimia, or cutting because a friend told them it would help them feel better.
5. An Entitlement or Take-What-You-Want Attitude.
Certainly, this would include those who literally steal from others (Proverbs 1.8-19) but as believers, we are not to have an its-all-about-me or I’ll-get-what-I-can attitude.
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need (Eph. 4.28).
Notice that last phrase, “that he may have something to give him who has need.” When God saves us and gives us a new heart, we’re to go from being takers to being givers.
And while having things isn’t sinful, we need to be careful of things having us. The need to have the latest iPhone or some other tech product, always wanting a bigger house or a newer car, or always running to the mall for things we don’t need, can be dangerous to our spiritual life. And hanging out with people with similar attitudes can fuel those desires.
We need to watch out for thoughts of “I deserve this,” “If I just had ____” or “What will so and so think.” We need to seek God’s help to realign our hearts and priorities with His.
Many of us keep ourselves so burdened with spending and debt that we can’t possibly give to others when needs arise. Yet, blessing others is one of the greatest purposes for God’s blessings in our lives.
Contagious Sins & the Culture
Of course, there are other sinful actions and attitudes that can become contagious sins. We not only catch these deadly diseases of the soul from other people. The culture at large with its slick marketing and ungodly attitudes fuels them, as well.
Jesus said we’re to live in the world, but not be of it (Jn. 17.14-15). And the Apostle Paul warned us about being closely associated with unbelievers. I think that would include the attitudes and actions we see in the media and entertainment industry. Our identification with their beliefs, lifestyles, and causes can expose us to highly contagious sins.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6.14).
And while we should have relationships with people outside the faith in our social circles and work environments, we should use those opportunities to be salt and light not to try to fit in.
We need to be careful not to absorb their values and priorities. God’s Word should be our plumb line at all times and with every issue. And unbelievers should not be our closest friends and partners.
Contagious Sins in the Church
But it can be just as dangerous, maybe more so, to hang around with professing believers who act like the world!
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person (1 Cor. 5.9-11).
God, certainly calls us to try to reach our sinning brothers and sisters (Gal. 6.1-2; Heb. 3.13) but if there is no repentance, we aren’t to continue acting as if it’s no big deal. When we do, we gradually become more accepting of compromise and vulnerable to the same temptations.
So, are there any contagious sins you might be at risk of catching?
What are you doing to protect yourself from those contagious sins?
Today’s Other Readings:
Job 11 & 12:
Love Believes the Best
Over the last couple of days, we have been talking about Job, his suffering, and his friends. Though they started out with good intentions, Job ended up calling them “miserable comforters” (Job 16.2). You can read more about their conversations in these posts:
“Could My Response to Someone’s Sin Cause Me More Suffering?”
“3 Ways to Stay Strong When Life Is Hard”
Now it’s Zophar’s turn to speak to Job about his troubles. He can’t believe what he is hearing. He is sure that Job must be guilty of some serious sin, so he rebukes him sharply. Remember Job and his friends all had the faulty belief that suffering was somehow related to one’s personal sin.
While Job agreed with Zophar’s assessment concerning God’s wisdom, power, and sovereignty and he didn’t claim to be perfect, he strongly condemned his simplistic conclusion.
We, too, need to be careful about jumping to conclusions about others. Whenever possible we should give others the benefit of the doubt (1 Cor. 13.7) and let love cover as much as possible (1 Pet. 4.8). Even when we do need to reprove someone, we should do so in a spirit of gentleness continually looking to ourselves lest we also be tempted (Gal. 6.1-2).
Psalm 94.1-11:
Vengeance Belongs to God Alone
Verse 1a, “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs …” In the New Testament, Paul warned us to not take vengeance into our own hands but to leave room for the wrath of God (Rom. 12.19). God, who is perfectly just and perfectly holy, is the only one who truly knows a man’s heart and the degree of justice that is needed.
Romans 10.1-21:
The “Sinner’s Prayer”
There are a number of well-known passages in chapter 10. You may have used this chapter when sharing the Gospel with unbelievers, especially verses 9, 10, and 13. Perhaps you have even asked someone to pray what is commonly called the “sinner’s prayer” after sharing them.
But there is a danger in asking someone to pray a “sinner’s prayer” or suggesting someone merely “ask Jesus to come into their heart.” How can we avoid it and keep from misleading others or giving them a false assurance of salvation?
Because of time and because this is a subject that will take some explanation, I’m going to leave the answer to those questions for tomorrow’s post.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, as we go through the books of Job and Romans and continue our yearlong journey through Psalms and Proverbs, we’ll not only look closer at the “sinner’s prayer,” we’ll talk about what it means to be a miserable comforter, our impossible calling as believers, and our tendency to ask, “Why me?”
I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out our YouTube channel.
If this post spoke to you, I would love it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.
And if you don’t already have a copy, you might want to purchase a copy of my eBook, 10 Benefits of Keeping a Spiritual Journal. It’s available on Kindle or in paperback (the paperback has 31 days of blank journaling pages with prompts to help you get started).
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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