She Could Never…Oh Yes He Did

You don’t have to watch the news very long before you hear someone say “there’s no way, he/she would ever do something like that/this.” There’s even this recent story about how no one could believe that children would create a story or lie about what happened.  Outside of looking and debating about these particular stories, the truth is that everyone is capable of doing the unthinkable.  The moment you believe “someone could never”…is the moment you’ll be crushed when you learn that “oh yes they could and did.”

The bible says: “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;” (Romans 3:10); “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9); “This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3); “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” (Mark 7:21); “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23); “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Even with this, we say, “sure we sin, but I could never kill or cheat on my spouse, etc.” Jesus says that if you despise someone and say “I hate them,” you’ve committed murder in your heart.  Jesus says that if you look at a man or woman and say to yourself “mmm, I would be with them sexually right now if I could,” you’ve committed adultery in your heart.  And don’t think that one could just keep it in your heart and mind and never act on it. James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.  15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.”  One’s attention determines their direction.  Focus enough on wanting that desire and you’ll find yourself doing the thing that everyone thought you could never do. And so we have to admit that we, everyone of us including children, are capable of sin.