Sin of Omission

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17 NLT

For the most part, we Christians focus on the sins of commission, which are committing sinful acts that we know are wrong – for instance, pride, lying, disrespect, self-righteous behavior, manipulating to obtain what we want, controlling, sexual immorality, adultery, lustful pleasure, impurity, homosexuality, stealing, idolatry, sorcery, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, causing division, hate crimes, deception, hearts that plot evil, sowing discord, perverse speech, covetous behavior, cheating people of their wages, exploitation, extortion, blackmail, abuse etc

While the sin of omission is not doing what you know you should do.

The Bible speaks a lot about truth versus error, wrong versus right and exhorts us to do the right thing regarding the situation before us.

The right thing always lines up with God’s entire counsel, specifically the 10 commandments and when you are right with the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit – you will overflow with love and you will have peace regarding the decision, regardless of how the decision is received.

The right thing might be stepping in to protect the defenseless or to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Stopping injustice from continuing, while ensuring people’s rights are upheld. It might be refusing to enable sin, so that the one taking advantage of others is rightly corrected. It might be refusing to invest your finances in that which is not good soil – especially if your hard earned money is being demanded of and you are being disrespected and mistreated.

It might be dealing with that situation in your life that you have been putting off, however you realize it’s begun to weigh you down.

Ultimately, what we ought to do is what Jesus, Himself, tells us specifically to do. Our Christian walk is one of relationship – we simply obey Jesus, doing the will of the Father.

The amazing thing about God – He speaks to us regarding what we ought to do. It’s not something that requires guessing; thus, we do not need to become paranoid regarding whether we are sinning or not. God is not like mankind, who refuse to voice their legalistic expectations of others. If it does not come to your mind, then you are fine.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for everything. A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.