Sin is lawlessness, disobeying God’s righteous, the just law of love. Jesus summarized God’s law in Luke 10:27 (NIV), “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

The Apostle Paul explained God’s law with respect to our fellow man as follows: “Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. 

Sin is anything that misses the mark of God’s perfect, divine standards, like a bullseye on a target where God’s standards are represented by the innermost circle. What we say, do and think can be sinful.

Humans have one BIG thing in common: we are all sinners. Romans (3:23, NLT) says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Sin ALWAYS has bad consequences, and if we think otherwise, we are only fooling ourselves.

 We want to run away from sin for the love of God. We may not always understand God’s ways but obeying Him always brings blessings. Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

If we know sin brings unhappiness, why don’t we just stop sinning? Because from the moment we were born we inherited sin from Adam. Not only that, but Satan and his fallen angels make things worse by trying to tempt humankind to do things Satan’s evil way instead of God’s righteous way.

So, if we can’t stop sinning, should we just give up? Never! When we sin, we feel further away from God, so we should try hard to do better each day and pray for forgiveness when we make mistakes, both from God and the people we hurt.

There is a clever saying: you can’t stop birds from flying over your head, but you CAN stop them from making a nest in your hair. It sounds funny, but the lesson is good: sin is always around us, but that doesn’t mean we have to actively engage in it and let it take root in our thoughts and actions.

Our sinful situation makes us appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made by dying for all of humankind. His death paid a ransom for Adam’s sin, providing a future symbolic “covering” for all of resurrected humankind in God’s future kingdom. While under this covering, people will be given every opportunity to learn to live righteously WITHOUT Adam’s inherited sin and WITHOUT Satan’s evil influence. Each person will be responsible for their own actions – they won’t be able to blame Adam or others for their sins. (see Jeremiah 31:29)

It’s easy to get discouraged sometimes, but God knows our low status and that we are trying to do our best. Psalm 103:14 says it beautifully: “…for He knows how we are formed; He remembers that we are dust.”

Romans 6:12 (NIV), “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” We fight evil by turning away from our passions and by turning to God for His mercy, love, guidance. We ask God to direct our lives. James 1:5 (NIV), “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Faith in Jesus as the son of God overcomes the world and its sinful desires. 1 John 5:4 (NIV), “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God.”

Additional Resource: 
Christian Questions Podcast 
Episode #1103: Have We Become Too Desensitized to Sin? 
Examining current moral standards in the light of biblical teaching  
Preview Video  
CQ Rewind Show Notes

Podcast Series: “Is It a Sin If I…” 
Listener questions about various lifestyle choices

For children, parents and Bible class teachers:
(animated video) CQ Kids: “What is sin and what can we do about it?”