Five Sins You Don't Know You're Committing

As it turns out, we are sinners. Who knew? God knew. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are dirty, rotten sinners by nature, capable of holiness only by the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit resides on the other side of our soul, while the side we live through is our flesh, our physical body. Since the body we live in is fallen and corrupt, we often miss the truths spoken by the Spirit and God's Word. This means we have several sins in our lives that we often don't even realize are a problem. Here are seven sins that are incredibly common, but still just as depraved as any.

• Illegally downloading copyrighted material – Yes, I know that you do it. I've done it many times and only recently have developed a conviction against it. This includes downloading any content you don't own in a way that the legal owner has not licensed. Pirated software, movies, and music all fall under this definition, whether from the Pirate Bay, Mediafire, or one of the many other file-sharing services online. It also, I think, includes downloading copyrighted items from YouTube when their upload wasn't authorized by the copyright holder. For example, I used YouTube to download several songs from All Things Bright and Beautiful. This just wasn't right, and I have since legally purchased the album. The fact is that illegally downloading copyrighted material is plain theft, and we all know the Bible prohibits stealing (Ex. 20:15, Deut. 5:19).
  
• Speeding and not wearing your seatbelt – Again, this is something I am familiar with myself. However, I have abandoned this in light of God's position on governing authorities. The Bible explicitly tells us that we are to be subject to those who are in authority (Rom. 13:1-2). There is no exception given besides for resisting sinful commands (Acts 5:29). The legislators that make driving laws are people we have elected to positions of authority over us, people God has specifically chosen. It is our job to simply obey them. If we don't like the laws, our responsibility is to change them, not break them. We live in a democratic republic, and we should be willing to act like it.
  
• Using prohibited electronics – Let me clarify: there are various situations, such as at some schools and camps, in which certain electronics such as phones and MP3 players are not allowed. Now, I can't remember the last time I saw such a prohibition respected by more than a small minority of people. This is wrong. Going back to what I said about authority, our job is to obey. If we don't like the rules, we can try to change them or leave, but we have no excuse to break them (2 Pt. 2:9-10).
  
• Idolatry – What? I bet you don't think you're an idolator. However, you probably are. We all have a tendency to place certain pleasures and passions in our life above God, which is enough to be considered a form of idolatry (though not as serious as proper idolatry, that is, directly worshiping an explicit idol). Even when our priorities seem straight, how is our view of God? If we let our flesh dull or warp our view of God in any way, we are committing a “smaller” kind of idolatry.
  
• Blending in – Here is one of the greatest fallacies of all, and the one of which I am the most guilty. Our lives belong to Jesus Christ. We when accepted Christ, we gave Him the right to rule over our entire lives. Here's the thing: Jesus doesn't blend in. So, when we can go about our daily lives without ever being noticed the way Jesus was on earth, then we're not giving Him total control, and we're holding out on our agreement. A God-centered life is one which someone who spends any notable amount of time with you cannot describe without mentioning God. Do you have one of those? I know that is my greatest fight. Our lives must make people notice us, or, more accurately, the God empowering us.