When an emergency medical condition arises, any sensible person will drop everything they’re doing to attend to it—doctor visits, regular medication, exercises, whatever it takes.
But sometimes the chronic, lower-impact problems undergo normalcy bias. Once your back has been sore for a while or your energy stays low, you tell yourself that it’s a new normal. “Happens to everybody at some point,” and “that’s just called getting old,” we might say.
So it goes for sin.
Just as with the human body, acute sins require emergency interventions. When there’s a “big sin,” as we sometimes mistakenly think of them, we pour our attention into it. Addictions or other major missteps get high priority. We know if we don’t fight them, they will take us down.
But the chronic, “little,” everyday sin conditions need our attention, too. While the major sin interventions might look like rushing into the hospital for surgery, the others might look like taking daily vitamins and going for walks. It also might look like cleaning out the cabinet of junk foods.
So, one of the best things you can do for your spiritual health is to target a sin and work to eliminate it from your life.
Maybe it’s anger, maybe it’s lust, maybe it’s negativity and ingratitude, etc. Whatever it is, attack it until its presence in your life is greatly diminished, and give God thanks for new growth. Then move on to the next one.
Healthy spiritual living isn’t just about addressing major crises and practicing good habits. It’s also about throwing out the chronic struggles that chip away at us day after day.
“…for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13).