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Sin is like that three-pronged hook. Each prong of the hook is capable of “snagging” the unwary. The three prongs are: disregard for the revealed word of God; believing the lie of Satan; and, placing one’s own will above God’s will.
A sinful act will spawn, in every person, a strong sense of guilt. If this person tries to relieve the guilt by further sin, his/her conscience grows more insensitive, hardened toward God and man. Eventually, he/she becomes unresponsive to or confused about what is right, leaving that person open to deception.
Shame also is a result of sin. What occurs is an overwhelming sense of broken relationship with goodness and rightness. This sense of broken relationship extends toward God and toward fellow human beings. If shame is left unaddressed, it results in hypocrisy, shifting of blame, lying, hatred of both self and others, identity confusion and loss.
Both guilt and shame, if suppressed rather than dealt with, produce jealousy and strife (see the life of Cain in Genesis Chapter 4). Jealousy and strife end up increasing the separation of a person from God and people, creating feelings of loneliness and rejection. If sin continues to be left unaddressed, sin will draw a person into further captivity by patterns and habits of sinful, obsessive behaviors and an increased separation from God. Ignored, sin will lead the unrepentant into idolatry which is sure condemnation by God. “Whatever you make the issue, you make the idol.”[1]
[1] Richard C. Halverson,
