Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:22
Every day, we have choices to make. Some choices are amoral; that is, what we choose is not necessary right or wrong in a moral sensse. What you eat for lunch, which route you take to work, what time you go to sleep. Sure, there may be options that are sinful, but more often than not these decisions have no bearing on your soul.
There are other choices we make that can have eternal consequences. Often we try to justify our sinful choices by appealing to the degree in which we are participating, or “dabbling.” I only had two beers. I only smoked three cigarettes. I only bought one lottery ticket. But it’s not the degree that matters. It’s the choice itself: to sin or not to sin.
Whether it is drinking, smoking, gambling, pornography, gluttony, or gossip…the degree doesn’t matter. Drinking “only” two beers is not morally better (or worse) than drinking twenty. Smoking “only” three cigarettes is not morally better (or worse) than smoking three packs. When you sin, you sin.
God tells us, “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22, KJV). The NIV reads, “Avoid every kind of evil.” The NKJV and ESV both say, “Abstain from every form of evil.”
On a personal level, I find it easier to quit something “cold turkey.” I’m not one to be weaned from a sinful practice. I just have to quit. Sometimes it is more difficult, and at times the relapses are more pronounced than others. But at the end of the day, sin is sin, no matter how much or how little it is practiced.
Thank God for His mercy and grace, for His forgiveness and willingness to take us back when we come to Him. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
