How Much Does Sin Weigh?<\/a>” for more thoughts on this topic.) Let me give an example if you had committed murder, which is more restrictive: avoiding murder or being in jail for the rest of your life? Too many don’t calculate the consequences of sin as part of the burden of committing sin.<\/p>\nJohn also points out, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome<\/em>” (I John 5:3). But where do we start? “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:15). If you looked at what it takes to be a doctor, all the facts that need to be learned and all the effort required to master the subject, why it would be ridiculous to even start! But fortunately, there are many people who look not at the effort of the journey but the value of the outcome and decide it is worth the agony. Learning to follow God is not nearly that hard. God managed to put all He wants us to know in one book (II Timothy 3:16-17).<\/p>\nGod also provided people to help people get a jump start on living life a Christian. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ– from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:11-16). A part of my duties as an elder and a preacher is to point people to the sections of the Bible they need to learn first or which are most applicable to the problems they are currently facing. This is just one small reason why it is absolutely important for a Christian to become a part of a faithful local congregation. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching<\/em>” (Hebrews 10:23-25).<\/p>\nAre you going to make mistakes? Most likely. I can’t think of an area of study where people don’t get at least some things wrong initially, but if you are willing to face your mistakes, pick yourself up, and continue working, those mistakes will become fewer. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us<\/em>” (I John 1:8-10). You almost sound like a child who decides not to learn soccer: “It’s too hard! What if I make a mistake? I’m no good.” The answers are: “It’s worth it. Most people do, but they fix them. Of course, you haven’t tried.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: In my frustrated life, I began to search for answers and clues and anything that could lead me to answer what on earth am I here for and found your website.\u00a0 I found it insightful and thought-provoking.\u00a0 My question to you is how can you be sure to know God’s plan for your life…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[482,179,761],"class_list":["post-5014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-learning","tag-sin","tag-understanding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37714,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-god-have-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-and-not-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":5014,"position":0},"title":"How can God have the knowledge of good and evil and not sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I really liked the answer given regarding God keeping man from living forever since they now would choose to sin of which I found on your website. But I have two more questions: If the tree of life stops us from living forever in the flesh, what of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-the-one-man-among-a-thousand-and-why-couldnt-a-woman-be-found\/","url_meta":{"origin":5014,"position":1},"title":"Who is the one man among a thousand and why couldn’t a woman be found?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does Ecclesiastes 7:28 mean? Who did Solomon refer to as the one upright man? Was it himself? Did Solomon manage to find a good wife, as some verses from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes seem to suggest not? If yes, how could he love them but not seem to trust\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23364,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-confront-my-dad-about-the-porn-app-i-found-on-his-phone\/","url_meta":{"origin":5014,"position":2},"title":"How do I confront my dad about the porn app I found on his phone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, My dad told me that he used to watch porn when he was a teenager. Recently, I spotted a 'free porn viewing site' on his phone. I don't know if I should do something about it. If I confront him I will either get the beating of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45524,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-is-the-right-time-to-get-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":5014,"position":3},"title":"When is the right time to get baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: It's a long story with a question in it. But to answer the question, I think you should understand my journey from being a Muslim. I am a Muslim and I was in a relationship with a Christian girl for nearly seven years. In that seven years I know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44111,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-a-bad-habit-of-visiting-prostitutes\/","url_meta":{"origin":5014,"position":4},"title":"I have a bad habit of visiting prostitutes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I am a baptized Christian. I am always committed to being a righteous man and walking in the fellowship of God, our Lord, and our Holy Spirit. But I have committed sins against my own body, against our God in heaven. I have visited prostitutes repeatedly. Every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-adam-name-all-those-animals-in-one-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":5014,"position":5},"title":"How could Adam name all those animals in one day?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question regarding making sense of the six days of creation and 24 hour days. How long did it take Adam to name the animals? Did he name all those animals within one literal 24 hour period on day six of the creation week? 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