He said to His disciples, “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one they come through! It would be better if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Luke 17:1-4 HCSB

We must be very careful of causing others to sin. The other day we talked about how it’s God’s job to exact revenge. Well, it’s the devil’s job to cause others to sin. That’s not our job.

Jesus doesn’t mince words here about causing others to sin. He says it would be better to have a millstone hung around that person’s neck and for him to be thrown into the sea than for him to cause someone to sin. This Scripture passage refers to “one of these little ones.”

One of the saddest things I witnessed when working with juvenile offenders is how adults used them to do their dirty work. The drug dealer would use a juvenile to pedal his drugs. The shoplifter would send a juvenile in to get the goods. Sometimes these were even the parents of the children.

Their reasoning for doing this was because the juvenile offender would receive a lot less time. This is still being done today. Just recently we have seen a rise in juvenile crime. Gangs are recruiting juveniles for all types of criminal activity including murder.

But we must remember that we don’t have to incite a juvenile to commit a crime to be guilty of what Jesus warns against here. Anytime we encourage another person to sin, that sin is on us just as much or more than it is on them. We must be careful of “young” Christians or those who are new to the Christian life. It’s our job to support them in their walk with Christ, not encourage them to sin.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got enough sins of my own to deal with. I don’t need to be blamed for the sins of others. I don’t need to encourage someone to have that drink that might lead to another and then another. I don’t need to encourage someone to miss church. I don’t need to encourage someone to take God’s name in vain. I don’t need to encourage someone to gamble. I don’t need to distract someone who is trying to focus on God.

My friend, we are in some perilous times. Each person has enough temptation of their own. It’s time we, as Christians, become a part of the solution and not a bigger part of the problem.

We should also keep away from those who encourage us to sin. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived, bad company ruins good morals.” As a Christian, it doesn’t take long to discover what’s in someone’s heart. It they claim to be a Christian, but act like anything but a Christian, keep away.

Let’s face it, we all sin (Romans 3:23). Only Jesus lived here on earth without sinning. We must be careful not to commit intentional sin. And when we are convicted of unintentional sin, we must confess our sin and repent. In John 14:15, Jesus makes it clear that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.

In Romans 14:1-23 Paul tells us to avoid quarreling over opinions with other believers. In Colossians 3:8 we are told to put away all anger, malice, wrath, slander and obscene talk. Ephesians 4:29 tells us no foul language is to come from our mouths but only that which is good for building up someone in need and giving grace to those who hear.

The Bible clearly tells us we are to encourage others to live a godly life and gently discourage them from sin. Getting the two mixed up could be deadly.

We will all face temptation, we will all sin. I just beg of you not to let someone else’s sin be accredited to you on judgment day. You don’t want to find yourself in that position.

Have a great day!