Intentions

The Bible is full of God's commands. There are the serious ones like 'Thou shalt not murder' and 'Thou shalt not commit adultery', then there are also the practical and useful ones like 'He who stops his brother from sinning has saved him'.

Then, there are also the gray areas, where the Bible does not really specify.

For instance, the Bible didn't say that 'Thou shalt not guai lan', then that's where the inferring starts. The Bible did say to 'love thy neighbour as thyself', and so if you don't mind others making the monkey out of you, then go ahead.

However, how do you define what is sin? As in seriously, one man's trash may be another man's treasure... Hold on, wrong analogy, but you get the point.

There are so many Christians coming from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, that what may seem okay to them may be miles away from what we'd expect.

And also, some newly 'planted' Christians with shallow roots (sorry too much geography, its exam period now) and a young faith may not have much knowledge about the Bible and all that it commands. And so, it's not that they would want to commit that certain sin, it's just that they don't know that it's a sin.

Which leads me to my one-size-fits-all plan for those actions not covered by the Bible. You can do anything you want, so long as your intentions are just.

For instance, scolding vulgarities. Yes, the Bible did say not to use your tongue to curse, but the Bible did not specify that f**k was a vulgar word did it? Therefore, if you choose to say it, just make sure your intentions are right.

This can also cover the gray areas. For example, the Bible does not say that shopping is a sin (*nudge* to certain *AHEM* girls *AHEM* strepsils please), but what are your true intentions when you go and purchase like 20 pairs of shoes?

This internal intentions-cum-conscience thing is really the most important part in this anti-sin method. If your intentions are screwed up, well, (sorry to say) your faith is screwed up as well.

Then again, you cannot just use this technique alone. It has to be nurtured with a growing knowledge of the Bible and all that it commands. (Oh no, am I preaching?!)

Yes, this is a tall order for everyone, including me, to follow.

Advice of the day: To get more Bible knowledge, JOIN YF! (yeah I'm using my blog as a means to advertise >:D)