Sin Dishonors the Lord

“Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight; so You are right in Your verdict and justified when You judge.” Psalm 51:4

If there is anything that should motivate all of us who know God, love God, and worship God to avoid sin it should be Psalm 51:4. Even though David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, murdered, he is confessing primarily to God and not to those he had wronged on earth. The truth is that God is always the first offended. All sin is first and foremost against our holy and just God.

Sin, by its very definition, has to be against God as it is only because of God’s law that there is such a thing as sin in the first place. When you break human law, you commit a crime. When you break God’s law, you commit a sin. That is why murder may be a crime against humanity, but it is a sin against God. Stealing may be a crime against your neighbor, but it is a sin against God. If you truly know and love God, there is no worse sickness than sin sickness.

When you sin, you don’t primarily just break God’s law, you break God’s heart. You haven’t just disgraced yourself or your family or other people, but you have disgraced the God who created you, the God who loves you, the God who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you. If your heart is healthy, you don’t want there to be any barrier or any breach between you and God.

When the dirt of sin clogs up God’s communication line, you will not hear or see Him the way you should…you will not enjoy Him the way He intends until things are made right. Why? At sin’s deepest level, it is only God who can redeem you and restore you. When you sin against another person, they can choose not to hold it against you, but they cannot remove your guilt. Only God can do that. And if we ask Him to, He always will through Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, I understand that my sin, first and foremost, dishonors you. I don't ever want to forget that truth. Please help me to feel the weight of my sin so that I can quickly confess it and repent from it as I strive to live a life of obedience to you. In Jesus' name, amen.