Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

I have lots of different definitions of sin. For example, sin is meeting a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. Here is the latest definition that really resonates with my personal experience. Sin is lost potential. It is wasting my time and energy on something that doesn't deserve it. I look back on my life and I wonder where I'd be if I hadn't wasted so much time and energy on sinful things. And I've come to the simple conclusion that sin is lost potential. Let me flip the coin. Stewardship is reaching our full God-given potential. Sin is the opposite of stewardship. It is "falling short of the glory of God." In the words of John Maxwell, "Potential is God's gift to us. What we do with it is our gift to God." I think "potential" is a helpful way of rethinking and redefining what sin really is.