Advent 2025 December 10

Today's subject for advent is . . . sin.

The old, traditional Christmas hymns do not shy away from this word. Well, maybe they did, but not the concept. "Mary Did You Know" does not have the word "sin" in it (I don't mind; it's still a great song).

Truth is, there would be no Christmas without our need to be delivered from sin. That kind of puts a damper on Christmas joy, maybe. And it is part of the story--Christ came to renew the world and become King as well as deal with our need for forgiveness and deliverance.

There comes that moment in every parent and grandparent's life when they realize that yes, their baby has a sin nature. My granddaughter slapped me today. She slapped her doll a bunch of times. I have no idea why, as I saw no provocation for it, but there you are. Impatience, anger at something else, wanting her own way, knowing she wouldn't get hit back could be reasons. (She's too young to be punished, and I would not punish her anyway; I just redirect and state "We do not hit.")

Or she like all of us, does bad things sometimes.

Although "sin nature" is a Calvinistic term and has to be tied into conversion (and the Christmas story), I think we would be better off to focus on our actual acts of hurt toward others and disobedience than playing the "sin nature" card in evangelism or anywhere else. I'm not sure it's helpful to blame someone else, after all.

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