Sin City

Mentioning Sin City brings the city of Las Vegas to mind, as if that’s the ideal place to go if you want to enjoy the pleasures of sin. But do you really have to travel that far?
Save your money.
Sin is available everywhere—in your city, on the Internet, even at church. You can find it wherever you go. In fact, you don’t have to travel anywhere. Without immunization, the sin virus will go with you everywhere.
The problem with sin is definition.
More than breaking a moral law, sin is failure to do the good you know you should do (James 4:17). It’s a matter of listening to what God speaks to our hearts, not abiding by the law while seeing what we can get away with.
The apostle Paul said lots of things were okay as far as the law was concerned, but that didn’t make it the best thing for him to do (1 Corinthians 6:12).
The next problem is why people sin.
Simple. People want their way instead of God’s way. The one right thing to do is follow that inner voice of God’s direction.
Immunity is available to everyone.
The apostle Paul gave the proper diagnosis. If I walk in the Spirit, I won’t be fulfilling the desires of my sinful flesh. How do I do that? Answer: believe God’s way is better than anything I might choose for my own pleasure.
To cut to the heart of the issue, I have to make a choice. Will I do the good that I know I should, or will I go my own way? Unless I am positive that God’s desire is better than anything I want, I won’t change my desire to what he wants. I’ll continue my own self-serving way.
Even pastors can sin, but I have to wonder why they do.
I’ve heard pastors say, “I sin every day, but that’s okay. God forgives me.”
Really? I question whether that’s true, but I’m not one to judge people’s hearts. God will do the judging, which could be either comforting or scary. I have to ask, “Why would you ever want to sin?” They have no answer, because there is no excuse other than to say, “I insist on doing what I want instead of what God wants.”
Let me make this perfectly clear: if you listen to God’s Spirit within, you will seek to please him and to benefit others, not to satisfy your selfish desires. — Galatians 5:16, The Discussion Bible