Mistakes can kill us. If we think that water boils at 200 degrees, and think water so heated is pure of bacteria, we can die. If we convince others that we are right, we can kill them.
If we think that water boils at 100 degrees, we will die from polluted water even more quickly. The greater the deviation from truth, the more damage we do.
The physical world exists to show us spiritual parallels. If we are wrong about how to obey God, we are in even worse shape for a longer time than if we make a mistake in finding the boiling point of water.
If, for instance, we want something we shouldn’t have enough to lie for it, we will end up with something we don’t need. Worse, we will have a damaged soul separated from God.
Just as we study water to find its actual boiling point, we should think through a proposed sin to see what damage committing the sin will do. That is why we have minds, that is why there is a world beyond each mind, and that is why there is a kind and loving God Who made that world and all therein.
When we try to avoid small sins, it is almost overpowering when we see people wallowing in vast, stinking swamps of sin. People telling mountains of endless lies about imaginary problems are almost unfathomable in their short-sighted stupidity.
It’s very hard to love them, but it’s a sin to hate them.
