How To Avoid Sin And Guilt

Lately, I have tried to avoid writing “how to” posts, but Paul didn’t when dealing with sin and guilt. Some people have a hard time knowing what is sin and what isn’t.

After a person does something not knowing if they’d sinned or not, guilt often sets in. Hopefully, as you read on, these things will become much clearer to you.

I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. Romans 14:14

The apostle addressed an issue about food that we don’t have in our culture. The principle, though, applies to everyone in every culture. He wrote the following to the Corinthian church.

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But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? 1 Corinthians 8:9-10

The issue at hand dealt with a people who used to eat meat after sacrificing it to another god. But God delivered them from that practice when they got saved, so they abstained from it altogether.

Someone who has never been involved in anything like that might buy a piece of meat that came from a sacrifice. They could take it home, cook it, and eat it because it meant nothing to them.

It comes down to more than a decision of what we will do or what we eat. It becomes a heart issue. Before we proceed, what kind of attitude are we proceeding with?

To Avoid Sin Becomes an Attitude Issue

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24

A bad or inconsiderate attitude could cause a young or immature Christian to fall away from the faith. Abstaining displays your love even if you have every right to do or eat something.

And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Romans 14:15

Now, let’s talk about how we can know what constitutes a sinful action. During my Bible College days, one professor defined sin and how to avoid it.

He said, “If it is a reproach to the cause.” In other words, if it goes against the Word of God. “Or if it goes against your conscience,” it is a sin. I have never forgotten that simple definition.

In evaluating his definition, we can easily agree with its first part. Obviously, if we do something displeasing to God, we have sinned. How can we avoid sin? Please God!

The Lord gave us the ten straightforward commandments, which need no interpretation or explanation. Then, Jesus condensed those and the rest of the law into two commandments.

Jesus replied, ” ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 26:37-39

Dealing with the Grey Areas of Sin

But how do we deal with the second part of this definition? “If it goes against your conscience.” Paul told us how to avoid that type of sin as we continue in Romans 14.

In life, we run across many grey areas that the Bible doesn’t define in one way or another. The apostle, however, explained when a grey area becomes a sin and which you should avoid.

But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. Romans14:23.

Let me give you a simple illustration. Let’s say you cross the street in the middle of the block. I, on the other hand, with my conviction, tells me to use the crosswalk at the corner.

Obviously, I feel it’s wrong to cross in the middle of the block. So, if I follow you across the street instead of going to the crosswalk, I am sinning.

We can sin against God, and we can sin against our own conscience or convictions. With that in mind, I can’t push my convictions onto another person.

How Will You Avoid Sin?

Early in our marriage, my wife and I went to a drive-in movie. A non-Christian friend saw me in the concession stand and said, “I didn’t think I would ever see you in a place like this.”

Even though there was nothing wrong with the movie, we were so convicted we left and didn’t go to a movie for years after that. The conviction finally did lift from us.

But God convicted us that night. It didn’t fall on me to pass my conviction on to others. As a pastor, I encourage people to be choosy as to what kind of movies they go to see.

As a preacher, I have to ensure the Word I preach is God’s Word and not my own convictions. I don’t have the right to lay my convictions on others. Let me revisit my illustration.

Let’s say you have a conviction of not crossing the street in the middle of the block. But I don’t. Then, to keep you from sinning, I’ll just go to the corner and cross with you.

How will you avoid sin? Obey God’s Word and your personal convictions. And always remember His Word always overrules your conscience.

Lord, thank you for showing us how to avoid sin in our lives. When we mess up, thank you for making forgiveness for sin available to us.