Love vs. Sin: The Great Debate
Imagine sin and love personified and engaging in a public debate. Which argument would persuade you, and what would you choose? The debate is real!
The way of life that the Bible reveals can be summed up in the word “love.” Love can be defined as “outgoing concern toward others” or simply as “the way of give.”
The alternative way of life is promoted by the adversary of God—Satan the devil. Satan’s way is defined in the Bible as sin. It is characterized by selfishness.
It represents nearly everything Satan wants us to be and do.
Imagine “love” and “sin” personified and walking up to two podiums and debating their respective positions. The reality is that there is a constant debate in everyone’s life between these two ways of living.
Which one will win in your life?
Sin takes the mic
Hello, my name is sin.
You may have heard of me already, but by the rules of this debate, I have to honestly introduce myself to you (I am usually never honest). I am the transgression of the law of God, or “missing the mark,” to put it another way. When trying to label me, people have often used words like “bad” or “wrong.”
Let me be blunt: I want to destroy your life. I want to make you think that you are happy, while I secretly take away everything good from you. I want to make you think you are doing the right thing, while I secretly coax you into doing the wrong thing. Ultimately, I want you dead.
Sin: I want to destroy your life. I want to make you think that you are happy, while I secretly take away everything good from you.
I do provide many physical pleasures, often pleasing several of the senses. I like to reinforce egos and lull people into a false sense of contentment and security. I also enjoy destroying relationships, fortunes, hope and my opponent: love.
Sometimes I pretend I am “love” in order to keep myself alive in people’s lives. I often redefine “love” into tolerance of things that are actually the opposite of what real “love” stands for.
I’ve been around for thousands of years. My employer, Satan the devil, influences people to turn to me instead of God. This has worked marvelously over the years! I’ve even managed to sneak into the lives and hearts of people who say and think they follow God.
I pretend to be religious-sounding practices and spiritual attitudes, but they are all disguised versions of what my employer wants: disobedience to God.
I get people to say they like the Bible, but not actually do what it tells them to. I get people to believe there is a God, but then change Him into whatever they want Him to be.
I am sin—please choose me in your life.
(Scriptural references: Mark 7:13; Luke 6:46; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 3:6; 1 John 3:4; Hebrews 11:25.)
Love takes the mic
Hello, my name is love.
No, my name is not “blind tolerance of destructive behavior.” My name is not “refusing to judge wrong behavior.” My name is not “be okay with anybody doing anything as long as it makes them ‘happy.’”
I suffer long and am kind. I don’t envy, don’t parade myself, don’t seek my own, and I don’t behave rudely. I’m not puffed up or provoked. I rejoice in the truth, not iniquity. I think no evil, and I bear, believe, hope and endure all things. I never fail. I am the greatest gift to humanity.
Let me be blunt: I want to save your life. I want to make you truly happy by providing logical restrictions and guidelines in order for that to happen. In other words, I want to keep you away from the things that will hurt you!
Love: I want to save your life. I want to make you truly happy by providing logical restrictions and guidelines in order for that to happen.
I provide many physical pleasures, but I do not tell you it’s okay to do whatever you want, whenever you want. If I am to be in your life, you will need to choose your physical pleasures with wisdom and within the boundaries of God’s law. I enjoy building and strengthening relationships, fulfilling lives and providing hope.
I also want to destroy my opponent: sin.
I hate sin. I hate it so much because of all the carnage and suffering it brings upon those involved with it. I use compassion and mercy to help people get rid of sin. Sometimes I choose to say nothing and only use my example, but I could never lie and pretend that sin is “fine” and doesn’t need to be repented of.
I’ve been around long before sin ever came into existence. I’ve been around forever. My employer, God, wants people to research what I actually am and then demonstrate me in their lives.
God created beneficial commandments and a way of life for humanity to follow in order to truly have me in their lives, and show me to others. My employer wants all human beings to stop destroying themselves and finally start practicing me in their lives.
God is love—please choose Him in your life.
(Scriptural references: Romans 13:10; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:13; 1 John 5:3; 4:8; 2 John 1:6.)
Choose now
The debate continues for our entire lives, and no one is forced into choosing one over the other. The time to make a choice in this matter is always now. Choose wisely.
Please choose God, love, fulfillment and life—rather than Satan, sin, emptiness and death.
To learn more about God’s way of life, read about the 10 Commandments. To learn more about Satan’s way of life, read “The Problem of Evil.”
Date Posted: July 17, 2024
About the Author
Eddie Foster
Eddie Foster was born in Ohio, and after living in several parts of the northeastern United States, he once again lives in the Buckeye State, most likely for good this time. He lives in the Dayton area with his wife, Shannon, and two daughters, Isabella and Marley. They attend the Cincinnati/Dayton congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.
