- According to Screwtape, the "safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." I agree with this because if you just do the "small things" those are more likely to go unnoticed by you and those around you who are Christians. If you don't realize the "small sins" that you are doing, you will never be able to correct them. Many small sins can add up to being something very dangerous. A person could potentially go through life thinking that they will be "okay" after they die but instead they will end up in Hell. "Bigger sins" are far more noticeable and usually cause other people to tell the person what they are doing wrong. If someone keeps their sins "low-key" then they won't be noticeable things but they are still very dangerous things. "Low-key" sins keep a person from realizing what they are doing wrong and prevent them from making future corrections to their sins.
2. What is the role of "nothing" and "small sins"? What does that mean for you?
- I would say that the role of "nothing" is the absence of doing something productive or doing something that is a complete waste of time and energy. Doing "nothing" is spending time doing things of little or no interest for the rest/majority of one's life. People who do "nothing" their entire life get to the end realizing that they have wasted years spending time doing things that are completely unappealing to them, or things that they don't even remember. People who do "nothing" lack ambition and a will to do productive things. They become lazy and apathetic to everything in life and some even get to a point where they are too lazy to change their apathetic ways. I would say that "small sins" are forgetting to do the most basic tasks in growing in a relationship with God. Putting off reading the Bible, talking or praying to God, and worshiping Him are all "small sins." However, just because they are "small sins" does not mean they do not add up. Screwtape said "...the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing." The intensity of the sin does not matter, the only thing that matters is the separation of a person from God. If you're not growing in your relationship with God then you're relationship is stagnant and weakening. For me this means that I need to be growing in my relationship with God every day. I can't put off doing devotions or praying to Him or worshiping Him every day. I also can't let my mind and body get into a state of "nothingness." This would cause me to become lazy in everything I do, especially in my walk with God. After reading this I also think that I should try to encourage others around me to get out of their state of "nothing" (if they are in one), and to start or keep up with their Bible devotions and talking to God on a daily basis.
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