How often do you think about sin? For some of us, it is an unhealthy obsession. We can fixate on particular sins and wallow in our own guilt. For others, we try to play it off as not so bad. We hardly give it a second thought. Sin can be a notoriously challenging subject to approach because of the baggage or different assumptions that people hold about what sin is.

In light of that, this Lent, we will be doing a series called ‘The Remedy to Sin.’ Focusing in on the 7 Deadly Sins and the remedy in Christ. In this series we will have a look at how sin is not just the actions we do – but involves the orientation of our hearts and our distorted desires and loves. Often, in looking at particular sins, we can miss the deeper causes. By focusing on the end results, we miss that sin has been crouching within ourselves for a long time, festering and waiting for its expression.

The thing about sin is, it starts somewhere. I think this is the aspect that stood out to me last time I did a deep dive in the 7 deadly sins. These 7 were not distilled in the ancient church because they were absolute worst things that you can do. No, they are the places where sin begins. They are the places where we begin, in our own pride, to look inwardly instead of towards God. In order to uproot sin in our lives, we need to not only see the end results – we need to go to the very places where they originate.

Sometimes it is helpful to take an extra close look at sin, so we know how we can spot it in our own lives, and so we can know how to rid ourselves of it. And what better time to do this than during Lent? Lent is the season where we journey towards the cross – a time of internal inspection – looking at what it is we have to shed. In the words of the Seeking God’s Face devotional, “It is a somber journey of spiritual preparation and renewal, marked especially be repentance and prayer. In our pain-averse culture, Lent stands apart by not shrinking away from suffering but cultivating in us wisdom that growth often (some might say only) comes through suffering.” Sometimes we shy away from sin, not wanting to face the ugly reality of it in our lives. But in order for us to mark seasons of renewal – we need to be willing to take a long hard look at the dark places within us. We need to be able to see these parts of us that are causing brokenness and put an end to it. This is a painful process, it involves suffering, but this is the way towards growth.

This sort of change doesn’t happen overnight. By identifying the deepest parts of our being, we are identifying things that we can’t simply choose to stop doing. Envy seems to come from within, lust can seem like an inescapable reality, anger just flares up. If it was as simple as willing these things away, we’d be done with them a long time ago. In our series we will see how Jesus not only does the work of offering freedom from the penalty of sin, he also gives a way to the remedy of sin in our lives. He offers ways that we transform ourselves – that we can be agents of resistance and healing in a world of decay and hurt.

The 7 Deadly Sins are listed as: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Which of these do you need to attend to in your own life? Are there any that don’t seem so bad or feel misunderstood? Take time to reflect on these as we look to focusing on this in the New Year.