Two-minute read.
Reading through the Big Seven, also known as the Seven Deadly Sins, you quickly see what they kill: relationships. Haughty eyes, lying tongues, abusive hands, manipulative hearts, feet looking for trouble, false witnesses, and someone who causes conflict all destroy relationships.
We serve a God of relationships who builds community through His unconditional love and the commandments He gives us to follow. If you think about the Big Ten, the Ten Commandments, you realize they also refer to relationships with the Lord and others. Thinking in those terms, you can quickly understand why our Creator hates the things that destroy our fellowship with His family.
Haughty-eyed people judge others less than themselves. Lying tongues destroy trust and spread gossip. People who shed innocent blood cause unwanted pain and heartache. When someone plots evil that brings harm to others, it harms many people. When you go looking for trouble, you always find it. Creating conflict separates the community and causes division.
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31
Pursuing God with all we have will grow us like nothing else. Living counter-culturally, we will lead with grace, not judgment. People will identify us by our love, and not our hate. Creating and maintaining a peaceful community teaches us to seek understanding of others and connect with them on an intimate level, leading to a more fruitful relationship.
Living for the Lord causes us to view people through His lens, not ours. Jesus died for all, and He expects us to love all. Learning how to do that will take you away from the Big Seven and teach you how to live like Christ.
Journal Question:
How would you characterize the Big Seven?
In what ways have one or more of these sins impacted your relationships?
How has trying to love God and others changed your life?
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for teaching us how to have healthy relationships that flourish and produce good fruit. Please help us identify areas in our lives that we need to fine-tune, becoming more like Christ.
IJNIP. Amen
