Sin and Betrayal is Born in Weakness

Nobody who calls himself a Christian, sins ‘on purpose’ but out of weakness. We are tempted constantly. It is when we let our guard down that sin comes. Just when we think everything is ‘ok’ and we can take a break, temptation returns, and we sin.

BRETHREN, no one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not wonder, brethren, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask.

1^st John 3.9-22

The opening verses of today’s reading from the Epistle of John can be enough to make us ‘hang up our gloves’ and give up the fight against temptation. Since we sin, we wonder if we were ever really born of God. Did our baptism ever make a difference in our lives?

Saint John is trying to inspire us to remember our baptism, so that we would keep fighting temptation. Love is stronger than temptation. That is why Saint John reminds us to love. When we love, we have less desire to hurt others or to give up on them. God’s love for us is the same.

Endurance is a sign of strength. When we are willing to endure pain and suffering, our strength is what keeps us together. It is love that gives us the inspiration to endure pain in the first place. We are not willing to suffer for those whom we do not love. God’s love for us is the same.

If we do not want to sin, we must remember to love God. We must remember that God loves us. Just as we are patient with those around us, because we love them, God is patient with us. Just as we suffer for them, God suffers for us.

If love and endurance are signs of strength, then sin and betrayal are signs of weakness. We are weak in the flesh, and we are weak in our soul. We are exhausted by the constant temptation. When will the temptation end? It doesn’t end, and we grow weak because we doubt.

We doubt that our pain and struggle is worth the fight. We doubt whether we will live with God. We forget that we became children of God in our baptism. We forget that we were forever united to God in our baptism. We forget that God’s love for us is stronger than our love for Him.

Allow today’s lesson from Saint John to inspire you to remember your baptism, even if you were only a few months only. Remember that you have become a child of God. Remember that God’s love is strong enough to protect you from sin. Remember that God’s love keeps you alive.

If we have sinned, and we all know we have, then allow today’s lesson to bring us back to God rather than chase us further away. “God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.” He knows we are tempted. He knows we love Him. He knows we are tired.

The Triodion is a time for us to reflect on our sin and our soul. We all sin and we have all fallen away. We can either give up, which is not an option I choose, or we can get back up and allow God’s love to strength our zeal for the fight. Walk away from weakness and sin.