when sin goes viral

In Sunday's passage, Ephesians 4.25-28, Paul warned us to keep our anger under control so that we do not "give the devil a foothold."  During the sermon we talked about the word, "foothold", as more literally meaning, "place."  That is, when we give in to our anger and let it have the run of the house, so to speak, we give the devil a place in our lives.  Anger can then become an inroad for other sinful and destructive behaviors.  In fact, if untreated, it can go viral.

You can think biologically or technologically, but anger is like a virus.  Once in our system, anger grows and infects us and our relationships with others.  It does not lay dormant and may even mutate into more dangerous strands of the virus - hate, violence or abuse, for example.  If we harbor anger and feed it, if we give it that kind of place in our lives, it will go viral and infect everything about us.

I can speak about anger rather freely because it is something I have struggled with.  I remember years ago, when my children were little, I found myself yelling at the dog for something she had done.  I don't remember what it was, but I could probably guess.  I yelled at her and she ran upstairs to her crate.  I yelled at her all the way up the stairs and even once she was in the crate.  There she sat, trembling.  That moment was a revelation.  I saw my poor dog trembling at the anger I was pouring upon her, and it suddenly dawned on me: "That's what happens to the spirits of my children when I yell at them."  It was disheartening, to say the least.

By God's grace, I have grown in dealing with my anger in a godly way, and I continue to grow.  The ability to control my anger is one of those "apps" I mentioned on Sunday that is continually in need of "updates" from the Holy Spirit.

As I said on Sunday, however, I don't think anger is the only thing that can go viral in our lives.  Other sins have that kind of power, too.  And when we fail to treat them accordingly - to "take them off" and put something else on, instead; to confess them and ask for forgiveness - we suffer, our families and loved ones suffer, and the Church, the Body of Christ suffers, as well.

Thankfully, there is one other thing that is meant to go viral: the Grace of God.  Once we experience God's grace - once it's been "injected" into our lives - we are encouraged to freely "infect" others with that grace as well.  But we'll talk more about that this Sunday.  Peace.

Pastor Stacey Littlefield