One effective way Satan gains power over us and our loved ones is through minimizing sin. He takes advantage of our human tendency to justify our thoughts, behaviors, and actions. I don’t want to think of myself as a sinner, and Satan is eager to reinforce these thoughts in my head: “I’m a good person,” “I’m only human,” “I have no other choice,” and “It makes me happy. How can it be wrong?”He probably uses the same tactic on you.
As we become desensitized to sin, we fail to respond to our sinful behavior, or others’ wrongdoing in a godly way. We minimize it, justify it, or simply ignore it and go on our way, thinking we are unaffected by it.
In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers observes, “The penalty of sin is confirmation in sin. … No struggling nor praying will enable you to stop doing some things, and the penalty of sin is that gradually you get used to it and do not know that it is sin” (March16 Reading). Only the Holy Spirit can free us from this snare.
When it comes to relationships, we may minimize sin in numerous ways. I might say, “I don’t want to hurt my daughter’s feelings, so I won’t say anything about her decision to take male hormone treatments.” Or “I don’t want to cause friction in the family, so I’ll attend my nephew’s same-sex wedding even though I believe it dishonors God.” Those who struggle with gender identity may excuse their actions by saying, “It’s only clothing. What’s wrong with me dressing as the opposite sex?”
Any of us can justify an action and twist it to make sense in our mind. But does this make our behavior right? Does this mean God is okay with our sin? No. It only means we know how to excuse our actions with as little guilt as possible.
When I began digging into my Bible to see what God said about my dad wearing women’s clothing, the Holy Spirit led me to this verse: “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this” (Deuteronomy 22:5 NIV). Detests is a strong word. How could God be any clearer than that? God loathes cross-dressing and related behaviors. They are sinful.
When I read that verse, I knew in my heart my dad’s behavior was wrong. It wasn’t a matter of me judging him and just thinking his behavior was wrong. His behavior was unacceptable to God. God never intended for men and women to pretend to be the other sex. And He never condones this behavior.
To overcome our tendency to minimize sin, we can follow David’s example in Psalm 139:23–24 and make this our daily prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (NLT).