My cousin died last week.
He took his own life.
In prison.
He’s my third cousin to die by suicide.
I never knew him. I just found out about him a year ago. As you might guess, my extended family is very broken. We all grew up without God, and the effects of that are evident in the string of broken lives.
When I heard he died, I immediately thought of James 1:15:
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (James 1:15).
Sin is deadly.
Literally.
That’s what James is warning about, I think. Sin can literally lead to your death, just as it did for my cousin.
If you don’t believe James, just listen to cable news! The deadly consequences of sin are evident in every report of gun violence, spousal abuse, war, assassinations, and opioid epidemics.
Yes, sin has spiritual harms, too. But we shouldn’t spiritualize passages such as James 1:15 unnecessarily.
Sin can lead to death. Parents, teach that sobering lesson to your children. One day it could save their lives.
Diane
Oh, Shawn, I’m so sorry to hear about this. Will pray for his family right now. Thank you for making James 1:15 very real.
Curtis Smale
Good and true message, but balance it out. People who follow God to the T get diseases, get cheated on, have their houses burn down, lose money and experince poverty, and suffer depression and pain so terrible they lose their minds and commit suicide. Don’t preach a message that says if you follow God your life will be great materially, or health or happiness-wise. Read my post, “Pastor Sunshine” on graceinsightandart.wordpress.com
Perry
A total AMEN brother Shawn!