Biblical Sins to Avoid: 25 Behaviors Christians Should Reject

Summary

The Bible teaches Christians not only what to do but also what to avoid. Just as athletes improve through disciplined training and correction, believers grow spiritually by following Scripture. Every Christian can mature through wholehearted commitment, daily time in God’s Word, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. Loving God and others helps believers reject sinful behaviors that hinder spiritual growth and pursue righteous living.

Lessons From Coaching Athletes

Athletic coaches teach what to do and what to avoid. In 28 years of coaching track and field throwing events at my local high school, I have taught hundreds of students proper throwing form, rebuked a few who threatened the safety of their fellow students, repeatedly corrected improper technique, and trained athletes to achieve their widely varying potentials.

For example, I have told discus throwers thousands of times to avoid letting their weight drift to the front of the throwing circle before they release the discus. It is natural to do so, but counterproductive to maximum distance.

Why Some Athletes Excel

Truth be told, most of them threw for fun and social interaction. My coaching had minimal impact on them because they didn’t strive to excel, and most were not genetically gifted for throwing. Spending a lot of time practicing it would not make them much better.

My coaching has had the greatest impact on those with innate ability who disciplined themselves to practice year-round. There have been no more than ten such students in 28 years.

Every Christian Can Excel

By contrast, everyone can excel as a Christian. Unlike the great differences of natural ability among would-be throwers, every believer in Jesus is supernaturally endowed with the ability to live as He did (1 John 2:6). Wholehearted commitment is the key.

The Danger of Spiritual Self-Satisfaction

Forty years as a pastor have taught me that one of the enemies of spiritual maturity is self-satisfaction. Most professing believers I have known do not progress very far in their faith because they are satisfied with their unrecognized poor spiritual health and feel no need to change (Revelation 3:17 NIV).

The Discipline of Spiritual Growth

Spiritual maturity in believers is largely effort-dependent. Mature believers do what immature believers don’t: spend daily time in God’s word.

All believers with access to the Bible have the same coach. Disciplined year-round effort to grow toward maturity varies significantly among people.

Giving God Something to Work with

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13 NIV). My observation is that God doesn’t work much unless we give Him something to work with—a Scripture-saturated, yielded, Holy Spirit-empowered life.

The Bible as Our Spiritual Coach

The Bible coaches us how to live.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV). Measuring tapes determine throwing success, but righteous living is the goal of the mature. It requires practicing certain behaviors and avoiding others.

My focus here is on the latter, but Jesus said that loving God and our neighbor enables us to avoid the 25 biblical sins (far from a complete list) that appear hereafter in alphabetical order and that the whole Old Testament hangs on loving God and our neighbor (Matthew 22:40 NIV).

Avoid Biblical Sins Contrary to Love

Here are 25 contrary-to-love behaviors in alphabetical order that the Bible (NIV) teaches believers to avoid:

Complaining and arguing - “Do everything without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14).

Drunkenness - “Do not get drunk on wine” (Ephesians 5:18).

Envy - “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other” (Galatians 5:26).

Every kind of evil - “Reject every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

False teaching - “Watch out for false prophets” (Matthew 7:15).

Gossip- “A gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28).

Greed - “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed” (Luke 12:15).

Hatred - “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).

Idolatry - “Flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14).

Jealousy - “Where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder” (James 3:16).

Judging hypocritically - “First take the plank out of your own eye” (Matthew 7:5).

Love of money - “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Lying - “Do not lie to each other” (Colossians 3:9).

Obscene or filthy talk - “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking”(Ephesians 5:4)

Occult practices and witchcraft - (Deuteronomy 18:10).

Pride - “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6).

Quarreling - “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome” (2 Timothy 2:24).

Revenge - “Do not take revenge” (Romans 12:19).

Selfish ambition - “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” (Philippians 2:3).

Sexual immorality - “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Slander - “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger…along with every form of malice (Ephesians 4:31).

Uncontrolled anger-“Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20).

Unforgiveness - “Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).

Worldly lusts - “Abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

Worry - “Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34).

Examine Your Life

Living for Jesus includes avoiding behaviors that God forbids and that those living in darkness practice. Which of the aforementioned behaviors need attention in your life?

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