Good Friday, April 7, 2023 | 11 Days

Christians have often been criticized (not least evangelical Christians) for continuously harping on sin, for becoming obsessed with it in our own lives and, particularly in our evangelism, for trying to induce in others a sense of their guilt.

__Stott, John. The Cross of Christ


Half truths are tragic.

They’re tragic because they are not true.

They are like a caricature of the truth, they give you a general semblance of the truth but call your attention to an exaggerated side of that truth that leads you into error.

Yes, Christianity has a lot to say about sin. And you can’t talk about sin without guilt being a part of the conversation.

But the reason Christianity brings up the awkward topic of sin and its accompanying sidekick-guilt is because there is another side of the truth.

If all you ever do is focus inward on your sin and it’s accompanying sense of guilt eventually you’re drown in a downward spiral of morbidity and depression.

Instead, see sin as missing the right turn and heading toward a huge drop-off where a bridge has been washed away. The accompanying guilt is your GPS telling you to do a U-turn, recalculate, turn around!

Of course you can ignore the GPS and even mute it, and keep progressing down the road until you plunge into the abyss. But that’s not wise.

Better to have the humility to listen to the GPS (guilt) and admit that you missed your turn and turn around and get back on the right road…that’s the way to not only save your life but get to where you really want to go.

And that’s the truth.


The ONE THING for today: To picture in your mind’s eye Jesus hanging on the Cross and as saying, “My sin did that” is only half the truth. The other half is to see Jesus hanging on the Cross and know that God’s love did that…for you.

Photo by Thomas Jarrand on Unsplash