Skip to main content

Side-Effects

Have you ever noticed that on commercials for prescription medication, the side effects for a cold medicine are more severe than the actual symptoms of the cold?  Take for example the side-effects of Cymbalta, a common medication to treat the symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety:

“Constipation; decreased sexual desire or ability; diarrhea; dizziness; drowsiness; dry mouth; headache; increased sweating; loss of appetite; nausea; sore throat; tiredness; trouble sleeping; vomiting; weakness.”
If you’ve ever dealt with either depression or anxiety, a few of the side-effects are equal to or greater than the symptoms one would deal with NOT taking Cymbalta and just facing the normal issues that come with the problem being treated!

Have you ever noticed that side-effects of sin are a lot like this as well? Most sinful actions are in response to the void of God in an individual’s life and are therefore nothing more than coping, or medicating the deeper problem.  While this is not always the case (because sin in its essence rebellion against God’s standards) sin is also the result of a broken relationship with God and in a sense a substitute for that relationship. 

When we sin, there are immediate benefits a lot of the time.  The Bible, as well as experience, tells us, that sin has pleasure for a season, but that time is fleeting (Hebrews 11:25).  The side-effects, or consequences of sin, however, are great.  In fact, the ultimate side-effect of sin is death (Romans 6:23).  We all know that such things a divorce, alcohol, gossip, anger, hatred, adultery, sexual promiscuity, etc. have devasting results, but even still many individuals fall into the momentary self-serving pleasures they produce rather than focusing on the long term destruction to self-esteem and self-respect, relationships, families, and society that they produce. 
Scripture gives us both the compilation of side-effects (Deuteronomy and Leviticus lays out explicitly the type of behavior and lifestyle we are to avoid; Galatians 5 contrasts the evils of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit) and the remedy for sin.  The later part of Romans 6:23 goes on to state that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus”.  Romans 10:9 declares, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And finally, we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old has gone, the new is here!” 

While consequences are an important factor in our decision-making process, in light of sin and redemption, our motivation should be a love for our Savior.  1 John 4 expresses the reciprocal relationship of Christ’s selfless, sacrificial love and our obedience to love others.  It is in the overflow of Christ’s love and forgiveness for our sinful living that we are able to live in freedom from sin.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Come Just As You Are

Growing up in church I’ve always heard the phrase, “Come just as you are” thrown around but I’ve never really thought about what this means. As I was worshipping in service Sunday morning, the meaning hit me. God is holy, yes, so we should never enter His presence in a flippant manner, but with reverence and humility. However, God is also merciful and longs to meet us where we are, in our sinfulness, our brokenness, and even in our doubt. The power of coming into the presence of a holy, merciful God in the right spirit and bringing all our baggage is an encounter with this God who has the ability and desire to change us from who we were to who He wants us to be: a whole, joyful, righteous individual full of the life God intends for us and free from everything that keeps us in oppression and bondage. It in worship and in the presence of God Almighty that transformation is possible. During the MOVE conference as Asbury Theological Seminary this past week, this reality became more evident...
Post a Comment
Read more

Seasons

It wasn’t your typical staff meeting. There was some discussion on what was going on with the residents we ministered to, but the focus of this meeting was edifying the staff. Our director started off discussing how there are various seasons in our life. There are some seasons where God must cut things out of our lives and when there has to be death; these seasons are often painful and confusing. We’ve all walked through these seasons when God seemed to be weeding out everything in our lives. In these times, it is often difficult to see the purpose. It can often feel lonely and like God is abandoning or punishing us. But then follows seasons of growth and life; times when He lovingly replaces the things he cut away with newness, hope, and joy. Most often, we see these seasons manifest through our relationships. It’s common as we grow up and move on in our lives to naturally grow apart from childhood friends and maybe even family. But there are more painful moments when people in ou...
Post a Comment
Read more

God doesn't need defending

I love one on one conversations. It's very fueling and inspiring for me. I find, very often, that it is during such interactions with others that God speaks to me. Today I had one of those encounters during a conversation with a good friend from church. We were discussing the issue of grace and sin and whether or not someone can still be identified with his or her sin after coming to Christ. For example, can someone who is a recovering alcoholic or who has same-sex attraction sincerely be a follower of Jesus Christ? Well, I posited the explanation that Scripturally, someone cannot accept Christ as their Redeemer and continue in a life of sin. Paul is emphatic about this throughout Romans 6 (for instance, verses 1-2  Well then, shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? Absolutely not! We died to sin, how can we continue to live in?). It is a mockery of Christ's sacrifice to free us from the bondage of sin to continue in it. Galatians 5: 1 declares that "it is for fre...
Post a Comment
Read more