By Grace Sweeney.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” – James 2:10
I still remember the very first lie that I told as a child. It was about something insignificantly small: whether or not I actually slept during my nap. I wanted the treat my mom had promised me if I had slept, and I was prepared to lie in order to get it.
After my sin, I remember my mom first disciplining me (because she could tell I was lying, and I didn’t get the treat). Then she sat down with me to talk about lying, sin, and its consequences.
Lying in order to get a treat doesn’t seem like a very big thing, does it? White lies flit around all the time. What does it matter?
I fully realized why it mattered several years later when I memorized James 2:10 at my AWANA program. I’ll admit that I’ve forgotten a good amount of the Bible verses I memorized at AWANA as a child, but James 2:10 and a few other key verses have stuck with me through the years.
One of the other verses I memorized was Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Note the word “all” and the phrase “fall short of the glory of God”.
The glory of God is His holiness and perfection. See Exodus 33:18-19a: “Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The Lord”.’” (Emphasis added.)
The glory of God is equal to His goodness and the beauty of His spirit.
Whenever we sin, even a little bit, we dishonor His glory, we fall short of it. Every sin, no matter how small, separates us from our Creator.
God has given us a book filled with His commandments and rules. If we were to follow all His rules one hundred percent of the time, we would be perfect, like He is. We would be able to live with Him in all His glory just as we were.
The problem is, none of us are perfect. We all sin every single day of our lives.
It doesn’t matter if they’re only “small” sins, like snapping at a sibling or not coming when our parents ask us to. We might not be murderers, but we’re still sinners.
For the longest time I couldn’t understand how a little lie could be equal to murder. That’s when I memorized James 2:10, and it forever changed how I think about it.
Sometimes I imagine the illustration of a perfectly white piece of paper that has a large bottle of black ink spilled on it. That paper definitely wouldn’t be perfect anymore, would it?
What about a piece of perfect, white paper that has a small ink blot dripped on it? Even though the stain affects less of the paper, is the paper still perfect?
No.
It’s the same way with our hearts. Even if one person commits a horrible sin and another person only disrespects their parents or does another “small” sin, their hearts are both imperfect. Neither of those people could be let into Heaven to be with God’s glory. They’re equally tarnished.
The good news is that we have a way to be forgiven and wiped clean of all those sins. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, giving up His perfect self for our sins, we’re now able to be forgiven because of Him.
His blood doesn’t just cover the big sins, like murder or adultery. His sacrifice covers every single sin we will ever commit, even the small ones, like white lies.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of “small” sins. The fact is, they aren’t small. They just seem less impactful to us, even though they aren’t.
Even if it’s only a sinful thought, we need to confess it to the Lord. He is the only way our hearts can be made white and clean again, from the large or small ink blotches. Then, and only then, are we able to fully commune with Him in all His glory.
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