If you are struggling with some type of sin whether it is internal thoughts or external actions you need to seek Jesus. Your sin harms those around you. Even if it is something internal or something that you don’t think has an effect on other people, it still does. Your choices, your thoughts, and your actions all have an impact.
The actions you do affect everyone around you, and not always in a good way. Your spouse, children, friends, et cetera are all negatively affected by the sin in your life. Work hard to stop that sin. For your sake and theirs.
Your sin does not only affect you. It ripples out and causes harm to the people closest to you. This is likely something you already know on some level. You may have seen how your drinking affects your spouse or how smoking damages your child’s health. But what about the other ways sin harms those around us?
Consider, for example, gossip. When we gossip, we are tearing down another person – often someone who is not even present to defend themselves. And while it may seem like harmless fun at the time, gossip can be incredibly hurtful and damaging. The Bible tells us that “gossip betrays a confidence” (Proverbs 11:13) and that “a malicious man spreads slander” (Proverbs 16:28). Gossip destroys relationships by breaking trust and causing division among friends, families, co-workers, and others.
Another way our sin impacts those around us is through our words. Words are incredibly powerful – they can build someone up or tear them down; they can encourage or discourage; they can bring hope or cause despair. We need to be careful with our words because “the tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21). When we speak words of love, grace, forgiveness, compassion, etc., we are bringing life into a situation; but when we speak words of anger, hatred, bitterness, jealousy, etc., we are causing destruction.
Our choices – both big and small – have an impact on those around us. So let’s work hard to live lives that honor God and bless those in our circles of influence!
Referenced Verses:
Job 4:8
John 4:37
Romans 6:23
Ezekiel 18:4
Numbers 32:23
Luke 8:17
Video Transcript
If you are listening to our podcast, please subscribe on that platform as well. You can also follow us. Find us on multiple different social media accounts to keep updated with Social Media Ministries. Thank you so much.
Today, we have got a great message about how what you do affects other people. Now it is very very true that no matter what happens in life, your actions have a direct result on others. You have no doubt experienced it.
There are many different stories or thought experiments or philosophical debates about how a butterfly flapping its wings in Hong Kong can cause a tsunami on the other side of the world or something like that. Where when you put a drop into water and then the ripples grow, it could eventually turn into some kind of a tidal wave somewhere else.
Whether or not that is entirely true, there is at least a little bit of truth to it. The point of it is actions in one place affect actions in another place. It isn’t simply a scientific proof, or some type of thought experiment that we get this from; then apply it to our lives, it is biblical. Your actions directly affect other people.
Today we are not simply talking about actions in general, we are referring specifically to sin. The things that you do that are sinful in nature directly affect those around you. If you are in a family—you have a wife, a spouse, wife/husband, or you have children, maybe you live with your parents, whatever the case may be, even if it is roommates or if you are in college and you have a dorm with a roommate and a floor full of others, if you are sinning [then] you are directly affecting those around you.
Now you may argue that, okay yes, for example, there are some sins, let’s say substance abuse. If you are on drugs or alcohol maybe, it could be addicted to caffeine, you always drink Red Bulls and coffee and caffeine pills and caffeine gum and all this stuff, something as simple as that, that is going to change your anatomy—the way your body acts, the way you act around others.
Some type of substance abuse, of course, would have a direct effect on those around you. Now if you are having a drink a couple of times a week or you have a cup of coffee every morning or something like that, it is not that you are abusing it, you are not addicted or you don’t need help to get off of it. There is a difference.
We are not going to get into all of the addiction side of things, but if you are addicted to something, that addiction can affect those around you because the chemical that you are addicted to is changing your behavior.
What about something that is a little more hidden—that doesn’t outwardly change or inwardly change your behavior? You could be addicted to something like pornography for instance, and you close all the doors, and you do your thing, which is a sin, but no one else is being affected directly by it because it is not changing your behavior.
However, that can change your behavior because you are putting things into your mind that are not right—not righteous. That is going to change your interaction with other people. For example, if you are a male and you are addicted to pornography, the way you interact with other females is changed because of how your mind works in that situation. If you are a female and you are addicted to it, the way you act around other males is going to change that dynamic.
I mean you could get even worse, maybe you are like a pedophile or maybe you are into homosexuality or something like that, and that is going to change your interaction with other people. So that sin is directly affecting those around you even if it is hidden.
But there are also some other types of behaviors or interactions, that we may not think of as sin, but they are affecting other people because we can take it to the level of a sinful nature. What am I talking about?
Things like being a workaholic. Well, you are working hard, you are providing for your family, you are getting overtime or whatever the case may be, you have 2 or 3 jobs, but you are addicted to your work and that time that you are spending working is taking away from your family.
That could cause negative relationships within your family dynamic because they may feel like you are never there and even when you are there you are thinking about something else. So, you have taken that to a level of a sinful nature and now it is harming those around you.
The same could be if for the love of money. Maybe you are a workaholic because you have a love of this money, that you need to have more and more and more, now that has become greed, borderline idolatry. You have put money ahead of God. It is a slippery slope, a rabbit hole of a lot of different things.
Of course, through this, we have shown through examples that anything can be taken to a sinful nature, even something as healthy as having a job or working hard. You could take it too far. Just like too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Even if the sin has no directly observable effect on other people—like you didn’t punch someone—that was a sin and it hurt them directly, this sin is still harming others.
If you are struggling with some type of inward problem, something that you can’t seem to overpower, you want to, that is a good step. You want to stop whatever it is. Whether some type of substance abuse, you work too much, whatever, you want to stop it, but you can’t, then you are living in sin.
If that is you, comment below. You don’t have to say what it is. You don’t have to broadcast it out. You can contact us privately on social media if that is you—if you are struggling with something because we would love to pray for you and even with you.
If that is something you are interested in and even if you just want to comment down below, pray for me, that is it. We will pray. We don’t even need to know what it is; we will pray for you that you can overpower that with help.
The only way is with the help of Jesus Christ. If you don’t have Jesus in your heart, then definitely contact us. We would love to help you make that decision to follow Christ.
You can’t seem to overpower something. What is going on? Well, the most likely scenario is there is a demon that is overpowering you, that has a foothold in your life. Now the New Testament is filled with Jesus casting out demons or overpowering demons and taking them and casting them away from people and out of people’s lives.
This is something that is on our earth. Spiritual warfare is very very prevalent and though we may not be able to see it today, we don’t have the eyes to see or the ears to hear what is going on around us in the spiritual realm, it still exists. We know this because this world is under the control of Satan, the devil, our adversary, our enemy, whatever you choose to call him, he controls this world.
He rules this world, however, he cannot do anything without God allowing him to do so. God has ultimate control and the ultimate power over everything, and He is, of course, all-knowing, all-powerful, so He knows everything Satan is going to do, and then God will allow it here on earth.
The Earth used to be ours—the fall of man—Adam and Eve; we have talked about this before. They gave up when Eve took the fruit, sinned, and then had her husband do the same. That was it. Satan took the power from mankind, or humankind, and we gave up our dominion of the Earth to him.
We are of a heavenly kingdom. Now we are not of this world, we are from the heavenly realm. If you follow Christ, if you follow Jesus, then that is our kingdom. It comes from above, so we got to store up treasures for ourselves in Heaven. A lot of verses on this. You have probably heard them. We are not going into that.
We are going into again how your sin and why it harms others. So, let’s continue. That demon has a foothold in your life because they are here—they want you if you follow Christ. They will be attacking you, constantly trying to overpower you.
They are not going to go after people who aren’t followers of Christ. Why? They already have them. They already have those souls. They want the other souls. They want to turn you away from God. They want to rip you away from Christ. They want to divide your family. They want to tear apart your marriage. They want to isolate your children. They want to destroy everything.
If you continue to live in that sin, you are giving that demon power and control in your life and eventually, it can continue and grow and become even worse than it already is. The Bible says you reap what you sow.
We are going to go to Job 4:8. If you have your Bibles or if you are listening along, come back later. All of these references will be in the description below. Job 4:8 says, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” What does this mean? Well, this is a farming analogy. What you plow, what you are putting into the field, and what you sow, the seed you sow you will reap it.
If you are plowing evil and doing evil, whether you are outwardly doing it or inwardly doing it, maybe you are harboring bad thoughts, whatever the case may be, whatever the sin is, if you are plowing and sowing evil, you will reap it in your life.
What does that mean? That means that in your interactions with others, evil will come in—in your doings—evil will come in. It will keep coming into your life. It is like a powerful weed. You are starting to plant something like Eurasian milfoil or zebra mussels in lakes.
They just spread like crazy, and it is going to consume your life. If you sow evil, you will reap evil. Sin is evil, so if you are struggling with sin then you are definitely sowing evil. That is a huge point.
The Bible also says one person sows and the other reaps. We are going to go to John 4:37, so turn with me there. “You reap what you sow.” That is a very very popular analogy throughout the Bible. John 4:37, let’s check this out, this is Jesus speaking on part of His ministry and how the disciples are rejoining Him, so He is talking about the sower here: “Thus the saying one sows and the other reaps is true.”
We can get a little context here by continuing reading. “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” He is talking to His disciples and to others that are going out and winning souls and bringing them into the kingdom of heaven.
What this is about is other people have planted the seed and said, “Hey I am going to talk to you about Jesus,” but they haven’t been able to convert that person to Christianity—to have them make a decision in their life. So someone else then comes along and is tending to it, maybe they added a little water and it is growing, but this person still hasn’t made the decision.
Then later on, someone else comes along, and it could be years and years and years of you trying to share Jesus with the same person, and then someone else comes along one day, and bam—they become a Christian and they invite Jesus into their life.
You might be mad about that like I worked on them for 20 years and you come along, the first time you ever speak to them, and you get them to convert. That is fine. You did the work, the other person reaped. Yeah, that was God’s plan. One reaps, the other sows.
If you are reaping sin or you are sowing sin, someone else might reap it. If you are reaping sin, you are getting negative effects in your life and you know there is nothing going on with you, then take a look at those around you, maybe someone else is living in some type of sin and you are getting the bad effects from that.
You are reaping what another is sowing and so if you are sowing sin, the people around you are probably reaping it. They are being hurt by that sin. The Bible also says some other things that we are going to check out.
Let’s go to Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” So, if you sin, you are dying—you are killing those around you. Ezekiel 18:4, let’s jump back to there—that is in the Old Testament—Ezekiel 18:4, this is God, “For every living soul belongs to me, the father, as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.”
If you are sinning, your soul is going to die. The wages of sin is death. That means eternal separation from God. Cast out. Going to Hell later on at the final judgment. If you are causing others to sin by you sinning, and they are reaping that evil because of your sin, that is even worse. Jesus says, “It would be better for someone who does this to have a millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the depths of the sea than to lead others astray.”
Whether you are intentionally doing it or unintentionally doing it, if you are leading others astray, that is very bad for you. If you are struggling in some type of sin, if you are sowing a sin, your friends and family may be reaping some of that evil and the demon definitely has a foothold in your life, and it’s affecting those around you.
What is it doing? It is robbing you and them of potential blessings. If you stop sowing evil and start sowing good, you will reap goodness and reap blessings. It doesn’t work just one way. Whatever you sow, you will reap and others will reap as well.
Go to God and ask Him to help you with that sin. In addition, comment below “pray for me.” Say that and we will pray that you be released from that bondage, from that demon, from that foothold, and that they are cast out of your life and that something else something good will replace it.
Because if you get rid of the demon and the house is now in order, the demon may not be able to overpower you, but they could come back with more and then you will be even worse than you were before. So, you have to replace it with goodness—with the Bible—you got to be diving into God and have angels around you at all times to protect you from that. So free yourself and allow those around you to be blessed.
Let’s go to Numbers 32:23: “But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” This is a different context, but the verse helps drive home our point.
You may think right now, “It’s okay, my sin is not affecting anyone else. I work hard. I am single. I am making all kinds of money. I am building a life for myself for later on when I have a family and I have kids we will be very wealthy.” But you are working hard, your greed is consuming your life.
Your parents want you to go home for a week, you want to go for one day because you got to be at work. This is consuming your life. It may not be harming you now or it may not look like it is, but it is.
Eventually, you will say, “Well I will get married and I will have all this,” but if you have sown this behavior for many years of being consumed by greed or money or workaholic when you get married and you have kids, it is not like you will just be able to shut it off.
It is part of you; you have trained that behavior. You have sown that seed and now you are going to reap that even later on. It is going to be very difficult to break that bad habit. You say, “It’s not a bad habit, I work hard.”
If you take it to an unhealthy level, it becomes a bad habit. So, examine your life. If there is something you are struggling with, if you are living in sin, or if things around you aren’t going as well, take a look around you and see if you are reaping something from someone else.
Speak with them. Not like, “Hey, I have looked at my life and I am not sinning,” you have to be sinning because something is not going right here. That is obviously not a good way to speak about it.
Pray for others and maybe instead of talking to them about it, say, “Hey, I found this message, would you watch this?” And let them watch this. And maybe they will inwardly reflect on their life. Or maybe something will come up that they think, “Wow, he shared it to me because he is struggling with this.” And maybe that would help you realize that something is going on in your life as well.
One more verse, Luke 8:17, and then we will wrap it up. Luke 8:17 says, this is Jesus’s words, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought out into the open.” Jesus is saying there is nothing that will not be made known.
Even if you are sinning right now and it is secret and no one else has found out about it. You say, “No, it’s okay, I have got it under control, I am managing my addiction.” It will be made known one day.
Someone is going to find out and it is going to destroy a relationship or you or something. The damage is going to take so long to repair. Rather than having it come out into the open or the skeleton being found in the closet, whatever saying you choose to use, deal with it now. Abolish that sin in your life. Ask for prayer, ask for help, ask for support, and get that demon out of your life.
Let’s pray. Lord Jesus thank You so much for this message. I ask that it would open the eyes and the ears of everybody watching and listening. That they would be able to inwardly reflect on their lives and on the lives of those around them.
Give them the insight into their own souls to see exactly what is going on in their lives and allow them to notice the things that they are sowing and also notice what they are reaping. That you would point that out. Speak to them with the Holy Spirit and convict them and reveal the things that they need to know, and they need to work on and change. Then allow them to ask for help.
Lord, if it is asking for help, it is just prayer, or if they truly have something really wrong like some type of an addiction or an abuse problem, then they need real help and they need more than they can do on their own, ask, have them go to other people and find support and also seek You, Lord, that their hearts would be turned. That they would start to follow you.
I ask all of this in Jesus’ name. That people would open their eyes and know that they reap what they sow and help them to start sowing goodness so that they can reap the blessings because, Lord, we know You want to bless us. So, continue to do that, show us what is going on, and help us do good so that we may be blessed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Again, if you need help, you need prayer, comment below; contact us. We would love to help and pray with you and for you all the time. In addition, if you haven’t made that decision to follow Jesus, you can do that.
It is a very simple prayer. “Lord Jesus, please come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. I want you to be the leader of my life.” You can say it in any words you choose, but it is very simple. “You forgive my sins and have Him lead your life.”
Those are the 2 things. You have to acknowledge He died for you. If you need help with that comment below [or] contact us on social media, we would love to help you become a follower of Christ. God bless.
