FriendshipNäide

Wednesday: The Impact of Sin on Friendship 

SOAP: Genesis 3:8

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard.

Devotion:

The entrance of sin into the world impacted humanity in many ways. The world we live in was fundamentally changed: the creation that was made good had been broken and corrupted. Humans were changed: our relationship with God was broken and our orientation turned inward. We would consistently make selfish and sinful choices that hurt ourselves, each other, and God. Sin impacted our relationships—both vertically and horizontally. We were separated from God by our sin, and we were separated from each other. 

Even our attempts at community would be stained by sin: when Adam and Eve hid together from the Lord, they were working together but in a self-destructive way. Their relationship with each other would be damaged by sin (3:12-3:16), but they would also use their relationships to distance themselves from God. Relationships are a good gift from God, but we sinful creatures are skilled at taking good gifts and corrupting them. We can use our relationships to sin together, especially by gossiping, excluding others, justifying each other’s sin, or relying on people for things only God can give us. 

Prayer: 

God, thank You for the gift of relationships. Guard my heart, God, from the temptation to use my relationships to sin against others and against You. I don’t want to hide from You, I want to have a relationship with You. Amen.