We’ve heard a great deal in recent years about contagious diseases and how to protect ourselves from them.
But could we be overlooking another kind of contagion—one that affects the soul?
Sinful attitudes and habits can spread quietly from person to person. We listen to someone’s angry complaints until we become angry too. We hear gossip and soon begin repeating it. We spend time around constant complaining, crude speech, overspending, substance abuse, or entitlement, and gradually those things no longer seem so serious.
Before long, we may begin participating ourselves.
Today’s reading in Proverbs warns us that anger can be learned. But it isn’t the only sin that spreads. We’ll look at five contagious sins, how our relationships and entertainment can expose us to them, and what we can do to guard our hearts without withdrawing from the people who need the gospel.
“I know it’s wrong, but I’ll just ask God to forgive me afterward.”
Have you ever entertained that thought?
Perhaps we don’t say it quite that bluntly. Instead, we tell ourselves:
God understands.
Everyone sins.
I’ll deal with it later.
After all, God promises to forgive us.
And every one of those thoughts can contain enough truth to make a dangerous lie sound reasonable.
God is patient. He is merciful. And He does forgive His children when we genuinely repent.
But does that mean we can deliberately choose to disobey Him while planning to repent afterward?
Scripture calls sin deceitful, and one of its greatest deceptions may be convincing us that we can choose the sin while somehow controlling what happens next.
We can’t.
But there’s an even more sobering problem with the attitude, “I’ll sin now and ask forgiveness later.”
It may reveal something far more serious than a moment of disobedience.
What could it reveal about our relationship with God?
We’ll talk about that today, along with chocolate-covered dirt, foolish talk, and why something we dismiss as “just a joke” may not be funny to God.
How do you know whether you’re a spiritually mature Christian?
Is it how long you’ve been saved? How much of the Bible you know? How faithfully you attend church? How many ministries you’ve served in?
Or perhaps we measure ourselves by the things we don’t do.
I don’t get drunk. I don’t steal. I don’t commit adultery. I don’t live like the world.
Those things matter. But Ephesians 4 brings spiritual maturity much closer to home.
How do we respond when someone irritates us?
How do we handle anger?
Do we speak the truth—or shade it when honesty is uncomfortable?
Do our words build people up or tear them down?
Are we easily drawn to teaching that sounds good, or do we know God’s Word well enough to recognize error?
And what about bitterness, forgiveness, pride, and the way we handle disagreements?
Paul began this section by urging believers to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
So what exactly does a worthy walk look like?
Ephesians 4 gives us a surprisingly practical picture—and it may reveal that some of the areas we use to measure spiritual maturity aren’t the ones God emphasizes most.
