Regret.

I’m going to tell you something that I hope you will remember when you’re about to do something stupid regretful. Regret is ugly and painful. It rarely goes away. It will haunt you for the rest of your life. You will forever regret that night in the backseat of that guy’s car, you will forever regret the moment you ever tasted alcohol, you will always regret that lie to your parents, or that hurtful word thrown at your sibling in anger. These things will follow you in your mind forever. In the moment, you may think what you’re doing is harmless or exciting or a rite of passage. That’s Satan for you. He likes to make sin look so appealing. What he doesn't want you to know about is the regret that follows when you are so ashamed of doing what you knew to be sin. He doesn't want you to experience that shame or regret or guilt. He wants you to keep believing the lie that sin is fun. He’s the master of deceit, friends. Sin leads to death. That’s the only path it leads down. It will never lead to righteousness and it will never lead you to Heaven. What it will do is destroy your life.

But you know what you will never regret? Being honest, being kind, saying no when you know you need to say no. You will never regret the moment you are baptized into Christ and become a child of God. He is the only path to righteousness and the only way to Heaven (John 14:6). The writer of Hebrews speaks of Moses and how he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Hebrews 11:25) Moses understood that sin is only for a short time on this earth pleasurable then it is eternal damnation.

In I Corinthians, Paul asks the question, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (I Cor 3:16)  Let’s be good stewards of the body God gave us. It’s His temple and He expects us to do with it what is honorable and good. Don’t get caught up in worldly sin. It doesn't bring anything but unhappiness and regret into your life.

It's not worth it. 

-C