March 27, 2019

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

We are imperfect creatures. God knew when he created us that our humanness could lead us to sin. He wants us to do our best to avoid sin, and to follow his commandments, but he is understanding and forgiving if our humanness gets in the way.

It is one thing to sin ourselves, quite another to lead others to sin. Matthew tells us not to teach others to sin. We would never teach someone else to sin…would we?

Others see us when we get angry, and hear us curse when things don’t go our way. They take note when we stick in our heads in the sand to avoid facing injustice. They witness what we accept and don’t accept, what we allow and don’t allow. They notice how we treat them.

Teaching does not only refer to classroom instruction; people learn from watching us.

What lessons are we teaching?