John 3:17 English Standard Version (ESV) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1 John 1:8 English Standard Version (ESV) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Do we call ourselves sinners?

In a recent bible study I heard someone quote the bible accurately and share some substantial truths but include “I am the greatest sinner”. That bothered me, first because it is not true and secondly because that person might not have defined sinner correctly.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia defines a sinner as “one dedicated to sin” while Vine’s refers to it as “one who has missed the mark” but references the overt use of the term by the religiously pious. 

John tells us not to deny we have sin, it exists in our lives, but that does not mean we are willing participants.

The presence of sin does not mean we give in to it. We might find ourselves caught unawares and realize we sinned after the fact. Acknowledge, repent, accept forgiveness and get on with life.

We might have sins that we are not even aware of until the Holy Spirit convicts us of a behavior. Some things we never considered sin until we are made aware that this behavior will no longer be tolerated. No harm, no foul is no excuse to continue in sins that we have been called up on the carpet for doing. That loose tongue for example.

That does not make us willing participants in sinning. Knowing a thing to be a sin and choosing to sin rather than obey our Lord makes us a sinner. We can expect that attitude and those actions to be corrected. He chastises those He loves. Fail to repent and a slap on the hand will be replaced with a belt across the backside. Sin will always have consequences.

I would encourage us all to understand the difference between presence of sin and willful indulgence in sin.

It is easy enough to get tripped up in this walk of faith. The enemy likes nothing more than to trip up a servant of Christ.

Considering ourselves as sinners to begin with just makes it that much easier for the enemy.

We are children of God and betrothed to Christ. Remember that.

3 John 4 English Standard Version (ESV) I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

My search engine failed to find the results that gave me any peace.

Praying for an answer this came to me. There is no greater joy in the Father than when His children return to Him.

This we can share in the Lord. It is why we preach the gospel, counsel the young, encourage the old, and support others in fellowship. We can do so with the Lord because of His abiding presence. His joy becomes our joy.

Search Engines are great tools but they cannot replace listening for that still small voice.

When we get too dependent on man’s inventions we are less likely to rely on what lies in our hearts. We think too much about how amazing technology is and forget that our creator has all knowledge and holds the keys to our needs and our true hearts desire.

Technology has made things so easy but at the same time gives others a chance to have influences over us that might not be the best thing for our personal growth in Christ.

While I used the search engine at www.biblegateway.com to find scriptures the same can be accomplished by asking a biblical question of any search engine whether it be google, bing, firefox or a host of other platforms, nothing replaces opening up that old oil stained paper copy on the shelf or coffee table.

I call mine oil stained because of the oil stains incurred from my hands over decades of use. Some users write in their bible, or use hi-liters. We all have reasons why we do that. If you do, let me ask you to go to an older writing or hi-lite and read the passages again. 

How long has it been since you visited those passages? Is what you wrote in the margin what you discover in reading it today? 

I journal and find it difficult to find time to revisit what I wrote long ago. The Word is active and alive and seems to have something new for me every day.

Two things happen when I do think about revisiting my journals. I will discover that what I wrote was inspired or I will discover how immature I was.

Since we are all subject to the same Holy Spirit, I imagine your experiences are very similar.