One Bad Apple
- Avis Sparks
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
-1 Corinthians 5:6-7
The other day, I pulled some berries out of my fridge and noticed one moldy berry attaching itself to another. As I was looking at it next to the other berry, the phrase "one bad apple spoils the bunch" came to mind. Seeing this spoiled berry was a warning I could either heed or ignore, depending on laziness or disinterest. I could leave things just as they were and place them back in the fridge. However, I did not ignore the warning signs and decided to preserve the other berries by removing them from around the molding one.
This had me thinking about how many everyday decisions we make that can either preserve us or weaken and disrupt us. I questioned how many times in our lives we take the principles of this world for granted, as if day and night do not apply to us. If I chose not to remove the rest of the berries from around that spoiled one, it would cause the rest of them to begin to spoil. It wouldn’t matter how many good berries I added to the container, or how much I ignored the spoiled berry’s state; its presence would eventually cause all the others to spoil. Keeping a spoiling or corrupting action or presence in our lives will eventually make its mark, no matter how saved and loved by God we are.
Reaping Time Does Come
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
- Galatians 6:7-8
It is the same for us; we must realize that it doesn't matter how many good things we do or how many good intentions we have when there is sin in our lives, when there's rebellion and disobedience, or a nonchalant attitude towards the things of God, ruin will come. The effect of sin is death, no matter who handles it. Romans 6:23 let us know that “the wages of sin is death.” And yes, Christ took on sin and died in our place. However, we must remember that sin still bears consequences. Yes, we may repent of our sins and be forgiven, but God did not say we would not have to bear the consequences of our actions.
When we sow bad seed, we reap bad fruit. And if not repented of and instead given space and time, it will spoil a bunch. Some may argue that the good we do matters, and I agree. However, we must realize that sin is caustic, which is why God warns us against it. It doesn't matter where the sin is in our lives, whether it's at the dinner table, on the phone, in a relationship, with activities, in our communication, or coloring our thoughts; it will begin to corrode other areas of our lives.
You are not Exempt
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
-Romans 12:3
It does not matter how you handle sin or rationalize it; it leads to death.
It is as though many in the church body have the mind of a teenager: they know a lot and can reason logically, but because of their development, impulsivity, emotions, and belief in their own indestructibility, they come to believe that certain principles do not apply and that consequences will pass them by.
When a baby is young, we try to teach them that fire is hot, not so they will fear it, but so they will respect the damage it can do. And as we get older, it doesn't change the damage fire can do to us; it can still burn, destroy, and take lives. It doesn't matter if you're a firefighter; if you jump into a fire, you're going to get burned. The same goes for sin: it doesn't matter if you're a preacher, or if you've been saved one week or 50 years; sin still causes death, still corrodes and corrupts, distorts and perverts. It doesn't matter who is handling it. And unlike fire, sin has no good, rational, or God-ordained purpose in the life of the believer, the one who bears the name Christian (meaning Christ-like).
God’s Mercy
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,
-Hosea 4:6
God is merciful to us; He does not leave us in ignorance, rather it is willful or the lack of understanding. He warns us because He loves us. He told Adam not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because He loved him and knew the destruction that act would bring. However, just as the tempter did back then, he knows our desires and tells us about the pleasure we will experience, while downplaying the destruction and death it will bring. Let us not reject the knowledge that God has imparted to us. He has given us a choice that does not lead to destruction. God lets us know that sin is death because He loves us, not because He wants to withhold something from us. He wants us to know that it doesn't matter how we let sin touch our lives; it will corrode and rust, and it will defile and destroy. It will destroy marriages, character, professional status, familial and friendly relationships, financial stability, and your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Sin is not to be taken lightly, and whatever sin God is calling you to address and lay down now, He's telling you that because it's a fact that if you continue to hold on to it, it will lead to destruction in some area of your life. It doesn't matter how much joy, excitement, or a sense of entitlement it gives us in the moment; it always leads to corruption. One bad apple will spoil the bunch, and we must not listen to the lies, rationales, or desires that would cause us to act as if it does not.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
-Hebrews 12:1
Let us pick out the spoiled apples in our lives and take care of the precious life God has given us. God wants us to flourish. He wants us whole and ready to be fruitful in Kingdom business, not to play games with the devil or gamble with our present and future. So let us put down every practice, lust, pastime, and mentality that so easily lead us down dark and tainted paths, and instead run our course faithfully and fully in the light.
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