The Problem with Respectable Sin

Of the five children that my parents raised, I was the family sneak. And I was good at it! My personality probably enabled my vice. A pleaser, I couldn’t bear to be outwardly rebellious. So I lived my “other self” on the sly and appeared to be a good and compliant child.

It wasn’t until I made a serious commitment to God at age 16 that I had to confront my own two-faced sinfulness and my need for a Savior. Until then, I had been busy comparing myself with others—and looking pretty good.

Next, the Lord spent a great deal of time showing me deep-rooted, sinful attitudes and tendencies that had to be eliminated to save me from falling into serious future sins. I had been blind to these areas in my life, since I had grown up in a conservative environment where these sparks could not so