Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains. – H. Emilie Cady

Well, isn’t that ironic? That phrase is thrown around in casual conversation all the time. Irony involves a twist or a surprise that’s different from what you’d expect. It can be a situation that ends up in quite differently than what would be anticipated. 

Well, isn’t that ironic? What’s one thing that you’d think that a state-of-the-art fire station that cost tens of millions of euros to build would have? You’d think someone would have remembered to install a fire alarm, BUT they didn’t. When a blaze broke out in October at the  Stadtallendorf’s fire station in Germany, which opened less than a year ago, it resulted in millions of dollars in losses and the destruction of essential equipment. It started in an emergency vehicle stationed and destroyed the new station. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.

What to you are big sins? Most of us have one or two sins that are huge in our minds. Often, because we’re bombarded by them in the culture around us, they’re in the forefront. Maybe today they’d be abortion and transgenderism. Yet, like a missing fire alarm at a fire station, we overlook “little sins” that can be just as destructive. Let’s be honest, most of us who are bothered by abortion or transgenderism, don’t struggle with them. Yet, we have “acceptable sins” that are much more damaging to us…because they’re our sins. Because there’s no billowing smoke, we tend to ignore them. Here a four we easily overlook but are highly destructive.

Anger. Not all anger is a sin. The Bible teaches that there is a kind of anger called “righteous anger.” Anger is one of God’s emotions yet because God is perfectly holy, He only has righteous anger. Sadly, righteous anger is not the kind that you and I struggle with. 

Chances are, almost everyone reading this was angry at least once this past week. For many of us, it was more like once a day. It may have been being irritated with your kids for not putting away their toys or at your spouse for forgetting what you’ve asked them to do a thousand times. It could have been a situation at work. Too many Christian couples live in daily anger and hurt feelings. Some parents and children are in a constant battle of outbursts of anger and abusive words. 

If you’re thinking, “Who, me, angry? I don’t get angry,” then you probably have a more serious anger problem than those who confess it. As Christian counselor, Jay Adams writes, Anger is a problem for every Christian; sinful anger is probably involved in 90% of all counseling problems. James 1:20 says, the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Is anger a smoldering spark in your heart? 

Anxiety. Few of us are strangers to anxiety. It creeps in over big and little things, gnawing away at our souls. Someone graphically described anxiety as a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained. Christian psychiatrists, Frank Minirth and Paul Meier, say that anxiety is the most common mental disorder they encounter at their clinics.

So, what do you feel anxious about? Here are some of our more common ones. We feel anxious about our finances or are anxious about our health. We’re anxious about our children and their future. And we’re often anxious about our government and this world. The lists are seemingly endless. Maybe you’re becoming anxious just reading these reasons for anxiety.

Anxiety is a lack of trust in God. We easily rationalize it, but it’s still a sin. Jesus said, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life (Luke 12:22). Is anxiety leaking some flammables into your soul?

Apathy. Spiritual apathy is a nearly universal Christian experience. It stunts the growth of individual Christians and Bible-believing churches. There’s very little excitement about spiritual and eternal things. There’s little passion and with it no vision for what God wants to do and can do. It’s one of Satan’s most destructive, subtle attacks. We’ve gotten to the point where we just don’t care. We’re tired. We’re weary…and spiritual apathy has set in. Often, it’s just the hurried, frenzied, and unstopping pace of life that gradually elbows out spiritual vigor and focus.  

But no believer can stay apathetic. Either you’re a believer who is growing and moving forward spiritually, or you’re stagnating. Growing isn’t becoming perfect. The Christian life has its ups and downs. The goal of the healthy Christian life must be that of continually moving towards more and more Christlikeness. James 4:17 warns, So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Is spiritual apathy burning out passion for Jesus in your life?

Arrogance. The greatest problem with pride is that God hates it. There aren’t many things the Bible says God hates, but He hates pride. Proverbs 16:5, The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Yet few of us can say we hate the sin of pride in our own hearts, but pride was the sin of Satan. 

So, God not only hates pride, He also actively opposes it. Why? Because the proud person tries to displace God. Wayne Mack writes, Pride consists in attributing to ourselves the honor, privileges, prerogatives, rights and power that are due to God alone…Pride, at its core, is idolatry of self. A proud person has put himself or herself in God’s place. In other words, pride subtly urges us to attempt to take God’s place. It has no room for God and wants nothing to do with obeying or submitting to Him. Timothy Keller observed: Spiritual pride is the illusion that we are competent to run our own lives. No wonder James 4:6 warns, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Is arrogance a fire in your heart?

As there are no small sparks, there are no little sins. Every sin is a violation of God’s Law. James 2:10 sounds this alarm, For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. Every sin sent Jesus to the cross, even the seemingly “little ones.” We may miss the alarm sounding, but they’re still destructive. 

So, what are the “little sins” in your life? They rarely stay small. Confess them and let God’s Spirit, His grace and Word begin to snuff them out.