The Domino Effect of Unintentional Sin

I usually participate in fasting during the season of Lent. One day this year, as I sipped my tea and enjoyed its flavor, I pondered the ingredients. I suddenly realized the tea contained [that food]. I considered tossing my tea. I considered pawning it off on my husband. I considered bottling it and saving it for later. What did I do? Well, I reasoned that since my ingestion of the food I was fasting from wasn't intentional, and I didn't want to waste the tea, I would go ahead and drink it. My mind dominoed from there as I considered breaking my fast altogether, on purpose this time. After all, I had already screwed up? Why not just give up? As my mind went, I realized that my slip up is just like unintentional sin.

Unintentional sin occurs when we do something without premeditation. Unwholesome talk comes out of our mouths. We accidentally view something online that we did not intend to see. We find ourselves engaged in gossip. We allow our eyes to linger a little too long on something unclean. We keep back just a little of our tithe money for ourselves. Then what happens? Without intention, we find ourselves slipping into a pattern of sin. If we do not pay attention, the area can quickly become a stronghold. We start to feel powerless and then we just give in.

The Old Testament sacrificial system required atonement for unintentional sin. (See Leviticus 4 and Numbers 15.) Why? Because it marred the people's purity. Because it separated them from God, even if they did not know it in the moment. In the New Testament, Jesus atoned for sin once and for all, but we still have to confess it. We still have to turn from it, because it still separates us from God.

Unintentional sin seems innocent at first, but it is really a slippery slope. We need the conviction of the Holy Spirit to recognize it. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to turn from it. We need Jesus' blood to cover it. Unintentional sin may start little, but its implications are massively destructive. One domino can start a path of destruction no one wants to follow.

May we turn and repent of our sins, intentional and unintentional today. May we fix our eyes on Jesus. May we ever allow the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification, until the day comes when we are forever with Jesus and no longer in this destruction prone life and world.