There’s a common misconception that Christians believe which says, “You stopped doing the sin, now you’re all good.”

But really?

Just stopping doing the sin isn’t going to get you where you should be.

Confused? That’s okay because I’m going to explain this thought further.

Let’s say there’s this bully. He’s a jerk, and there’s one kid who he loves to pick on, and they have been hurt a lot—emotionally, physically, you can be creative—by the bully.

But the bully stops being a jerk and leaves the kid alone. Now, that’s great right? We love that for the kid who was bullied. But if the bully just stops being a jerk and doesn’t go a step further by making up for those choices he made, then what’s the point?

The bully needs to go out, apologize to the kid he bullied, and mend the relationships he ruined. Not only that, but he also needs to be kind.

I understand that in some situations, the kids who were bullied would just rather be ignored by the bully—I totally get that. But hear me out for the sake of this post, alright?

I’m a very visual person, so there’s this imagery I think of when it comes to this topic. A number line has negative numbers, positive numbers, and a zero in the middle.

When the kid was a bully, he was in the negatives. When he stopped being a bully, he came back to the zero. But he’s not in the positive numbers necessarily—he’s just…back where he started. And because zero is just one step away from the negatives, he has to work his way into the positives to get further away from the actions he used to do.

The less effort you put into pursuing a life lived for God, then the easier it will be to fall farther into the negatives—and fall farther really quickly.

There’s wisdom in a line David writes in Psalms that tell us this:

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Psalms 34:14 NIV

Psalm 34 shows us some great perspective on this—we not only should turn from evil, but do good, pursue good.

There’s so much more in life than just stopping being involved or participating in the evil. It’s about living and pursuing and thriving in the good. And to live in the good means to live in the presence of God.

Romans 5 goes even further than just doing good and says:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21 NIV)

When we make the act to change our ways to glorify the Lord, we are overcoming our past ways and past actions—not only that, but also shining another light into the world that reveals the love of God.

What might this look like for you?

For me personally, it means stop simply listening to coworkers gossiping about each other and standing up for those who can’t defend themselves in the moment. Do I gossip with them? No—but I don’t say anything either and tell them, “Hey, that’s not kind. We don’t know what’s going on in their life.”

Maybe it looks like not just quitting using profanity but also speaking words of life.

Maybe it looks like quitting smut and reading more of your Bible every day.

There’s so many things we can do that seem like such simple changes, yet they drastically affect the way we live and the people who are around us.

I encourage you, this week, to reflect on something you might be doing or participating in that isn’t glorifying the Lord. And then, not simply quitting that habit, but taking it a step further and moving closer to the goal of living a life that reflects God’s character.

Thanks for reading, I hope y’all enjoyed today’s post!
~Willow