There are multiple reasons why you should want to avoid sin. God has been so loving and gracious to you and given you eternal life; you should want to keep yourself free from sin and please Him in all things in your gratitude to Him. I am reminded of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. Luke 17:12-16 “Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.” Are you like the nine who walked away and took the healing for granted? Or are you like the Samaritan who fell down on his face and gave glory to God and gave thanks to Jesus for His healing. Your redemption and forgiveness by your loving God should motivate you to seek to please Him for the wonderful grace He has given you. Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” God’s grace teaches us how we should respond to Him in love. 1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Sin is literally missing the mark. It is doing or thinking things that are contrary to God’s will. Sin has consequences. Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Those who continue to sin will reap the consequences of that sin. Some consequences are immediate and severe; other consequences may happen later. But all sin has consequences.
Sin separates you from God. Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” God is a righteous God; He is holy. He wants to dwell within you and lead you in your life and bless you. But if you are full of sin, He cannot continue to dwell with you as a holy, righteous God. He also will not listen to your prayers. The man born blind that Jesus had healed clearly stated the matter in John 9:31 “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” Sin separates you from God and He will not hear you. These are good reasons to not sin.
Sin is often harmful to other people. There are many examples that could be given for the harm sin does to others; let us look at a few. King David committed adultery with Bathsheba; look at the harm he caused others. He caused Bathsheba to also commit adultery. David caused her husband Uriah to be killed in battle in his attempt to cover up his sin. The baby resulting from the adultery died. Look at some of the following commandments. “Honor your father and your mother.” Dishonoring your father and mother harms them. “You shall not murder.” Obviously the one murdered is harmed. “You shall not commit adultery.” The spouse of the adulterer is harmed. “You shall not steal.” The one stolen from is harmed. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” The neighbor is harmed by the false witness. The drunkard harms his family. The liar harms the ones lied to. If you sin in these or other ways, you can be harming others with your sin. This is a good reason to not sin.
Sin may be harmful to you. Here are some examples. Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; when they ate of the tree, they were driven from the garden, given curses and death came to them. When Lot and his family were told to flee Sodom, the angels instructed them not to look behind them. But Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back; she was turned into a pillar of salt. The adulterer may lose the trust and love of his spouse and may contact venereal disease. The liar will lose the trust of others. Taking illicit drugs leads to addiction and potential death. Many sins will cause you direct harm. This is a good reason to not sin.
God may bring calamity upon you. The Israelites had sinned and departed from their God. Jerimiah 11:11 “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.’” God will no longer protect you and shield you from evil nor listen to your prayers for help if you follow sin. This is a good reason to not sin.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). While sin may or may not cause physical death, the end result of sin is spiritual death and eternal separation from God. Those who follow the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
You died to sin. You made a commitment. How can you live in sin any longer? Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Are you following your commitment to avoid sin?
While I have listed many reasons to not sin, I encourage you to desire to be holy and please your loving Father in heaven. Pray for His guidance and strength in your life to avoid sin.