Big Sinner or Little Sinner?

“Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
         there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes
         concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
    …he does not despise evil. Psalm 36:1-4

Okay, you and I both know we are sinners, right? Who isn’t? But, “I am not a big sinner like…” Most of us think like that in the beginning of our spiritual journey. That is exactly how Jared said he felt growing up, “I was just a little sinner.” I listened intently as he shared his thoughts regarding his condition (sin) with a group of his fellow missionaries. Jared said he knew that he had some problems, but he wasn’t a “big sinner” who had murdered someone or was a drug addict. Jared continued to tell us how he began to struggle with drinking and sexual immorality as a teenager. He said, “Then I began to see myself as God saw me, as a BIG sinner who needed a Savior!” He was always a big sinner, but he failed to see himself in the light of God’s holiness. He failed to compare himself with God and His standard and therefore he did not feel desperate and change was not necessary. There was no emergency, or so he thought!

Have you ever seriously thought about God’s holiness, His perfect character and flawless nature? How does it make you feel? The arrogant person mentioned in the verses above will only continue to do evil and be proud of it. There is no godly sorrow that the Bible calls repentance. Here is the NIV translation of verse two, “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”

I pray that you will see God in His glory and will react like Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5) God wants you to confess and forsake your sin and experience His grace and forgiveness. A clean conscience begins when you despise evil because you are a big sinner. That is why Jesus died -to make big sinners clean, new and holy!