Glory to God in Chronic Sin

As frustrating as chronic illness can be, it seems to me that there can come a measure of acceptance and a recognition of its capacity to drive us to God and keep us close to him. There can even be a measure of respect and admiration for the perseverance that is demonstrated in one who suffers outwardly.

What seems worse than chronic illness is chronic sin, habitual sin, what we call “besetting” sin, which robs us of joy and self-respect. It can come in many forms: pride, lust, greed, gluttony, anger… And there are none of the perks that go along with chronic illness. It causes us to loathe ourselves or the one whose sin is exposed.

The reality though is that all of us will suffer in one way or another. All of us will take sin to our graves. We may wonder, even become exasperated and ask why the God who commands purity refuses to grant it. Lately I have spoken with several people who at the base of their beings have desires that lead them into what the Bible labels as sexual sin and yet they feel powerless to change it. They fear that only death will take away what must be labeled a sinful desire. (Romans 1:24, 1Peter 4:11)

Though we may never come to the place where we no longer desire what is sinful, it is possible to fully and finally hate that specific evil, even an evil that is an inseparable part of ourselves. And therein lies a spiritual victory. Though we may not be able to flee a tendency or desire or kill it so that it no longer raises its ugly head, we can come to hate it and hate that part of ourselves.

It is the hating of wickedness that God loves. It may be part of the reason why he allows besetting sins. In this state of need, we may humbly come to the place where we know intimately and even predictably a part of our heart that is still inhabited by the enemy, a part of our soul that rebelliously refuses to submit, a hiding place for darkness, a self-deception, a love-affair brewing that we may wish so much weren’t there that it is difficult to admit that it is. But time and again we must confront it and be taught to despise it to the glory of God. It is this Christ-like passion that we can purse, even when we cannot be completely free from a desire that God labels sinful.

Ps 45:7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

Hebrews 1:8 tell us that these are the words of the father spoken over the divine son. The Father loves Jesus because Jesus hates evil. We can too. May those sins that we may never conquer serve us, at least to cause us to hate them and so be loved by God for this Christ-like zeal.

May our hearts produce authentic words that sound like this: “I hate my sin” and may God love us for it.