“Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.”
We often hear testimonies of what people have given up since they were saved. It is important to give up sinful habits and sinful ways when we are saved, but that is not the end of the story. There is sin that is called “sin of omission.” James put it as succinctly as it could be put in the text: “If you know to do good and do not do it, it is sin.” (my paraphrase) It’s not just a question about what we have given up for Jesus that is important. The question is what we are now doing that we did not do before Jesus changed our lives? Let’s begin with what I call “sins of the tongue.” It might be that we gave up gossip when Jesus changed our lives. Knowing of the destruction of this sin, I would think that it would be a good thing to give up. It would be good if all people would stop gossiping. The important question here though is what good things are we saying about people instead of negative things. If it is a sin to say bad things about people, whether they are true or not, it is a sin to fail to say good things to and about people. I really don’t like to think of all the times that I have thought about something good that I should have said to someone and didn’t say it. I don’t think we realize how important it is for us to say good things to people. The Lord only knows that after all of the negative things that we hear, it is important that we hear good things as well. Think of all that would change in our churches if we decided that we would say good things about people whenever we felt the impulse to do so. There are times when negative things need to be said, but saying good things is equally important. I try to remember this when I am preaching. There are times when we preachers have to “step on toes,” but there are also times when we need to “touch their hearts.” I love it when people say good things to me. People have asked me if I get tired of people saying “enjoyed the sermon.”My answer is always, “Heavens no. Do I want them to tell me that they hated the sermon”? James wrote that it is a sin to know to do good and not do it. If we know that it is a good thing to do something nice for someone else, just for the sake of doing it, it is a sin if we don’t do it. For example, there might be a lonely person in our community who does not get along well with people. Our tendency is to leave these people to themselves, but that is not what Christians should do. It would be a good idea to visit this person and take him or her a cake. This person might think you were crazy at first, and he or she might even refuse the cake, but you have done the right thing, and God would be pleased and look on that gesture with favor. I know that this seems like a silly thing, but doing the Christian thing seems to be silly to the world at times. One time when Jesus visited Jericho, he spoke to and went home with the most hated man in town – Zacchaeus. He was the local tax collector and had gotten rich at a lot of other people’s expense, but Jesus befriended him and changed his life for the better. We might not change a cantankerous person for the better like Jesus did, but it would be worth a try, and it would be the right thing to do. We are not expected to succeed in everything that we do in Jesus' name, but we are expected to try. I have heard testimonies about people giving up drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and numerous other things, and this is important, but I would like to hear a testimony where the person told about all of the good things that they are doing now that they didn’t do before. This would not be bragging it would be a declaration that we are not just saved from some things, but that we are saved to do some things as well. Let’s at least be aware that there is something called “sin of omission,” and stop omitting. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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