I heard a teacher say “The origin of all sin begins with a wrong understanding of the character of God.” Perhaps it is too absolutely stated, but I think there is something to this. In Genesis 3 Satan tempted Eve. He didn’t just say, “Hey, you should rebel! Eat this non-specified fruit. Everyone’s doing it.” What Satan did was try to distort Eve’s view of God’s character. He presented the idea that God was insecure or at best selfish in not wanting her to be smarter or like Him.

If not always, then often, our sin starts with a distorted view of God’s character. I think specifically it is misunderstanding God’s righteousness. When we think of God as a tyrant who made laws with the intent of controlling our lives and restricting our fun we want to rebel. After all, rebellion against tyranny is a good thing right? Right. Only God is no tyrant. Deuteronomy 6:24 says that God gave men laws for their good – to preserve them. He is righteous. He does and will always do right.

All of God’s laws are based in love. Don’t steal. It damages relationship. Don’t commit adultery. It destroys families, removes security from children, often brings disease, and always brings pain to all involved.

God’s love is clearly shown in His laws. They aren’t arbitrary methods for limiting our pleasure. They are loving and intelligent descriptions for how we are designed to live in relationship to God, others and ourselves.

Let’s quit sinning and encourage others to do the same. But most of all, let’s strive to more accurately understand the character of our God.