Episode 441: I’m Talkin…Sin

I’m Talking, episode 441 for September 27, 2026.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week we’re talking sin.

Sin, in its easiest definition, is really a wrong that is committed against somebody else, maybe against a deity if you look at today’s world.

And it’s a word that we don’t talk about all that much, and probably often only used in religious circles.

And the question is, you know, for whom is sin a problem, and who has the authority to call something a sin?

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

Today’s word comes from Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15, that says, If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This is a really difficult section of Scripture.

It says, in essence, that if I am not willing to forgive others, then God is not going to forgive me.

And yet, other places in God’s Word, it says that forgiveness is not something you earn; it is something you are given by grace.

It is not something that God does because you deserve it.

It’s something that God does because of His work on the cross.

So what do you do with a verse that says, If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins?

A lot of people, a lot of reading, and people talking about this, and it really points to a heart condition.

If we have been forgiven.

Then we should be willing to offer that to others.

And if we are unwilling to offer that forgiveness to others through the blood of Jesus Christ, because that’s the only real way to do it, then we are hindering our relationship with God.

We are hindering our relationship with others, and there is animosity that grows there.

So how do our prayers get answered?

How does our relationship with God get restored?

Well, it gets restored when we are willing to forgive others, and then God cleanses us, cleanses us of our sins as well.

Not because of what we did, but it’s a relational thing.

It kind of ties back to feet washing versus a whole bath that Peter says, Well, wash all of me, and God says, Not all of you is dirty.

I just need to wash your feet.

It kind of is, in a sense, that where we know that we are forgiven.

We are asked to continue to go to God to recognize our sins and recognize His forgiveness of them, and at the same time, because of what He has done for us and because of how He wants us to relate to others, and for the ability to draw people to who Jesus Christ is, we must be willing to forgive sin.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.

Before you stop listening today, one more announcement.

Today happens to be my grandson Killian’s fifth birthday, and I just wanted to shout out to him.

He’s such a cool kid, very bright-eyed, very happy, loves his family, and it’s a pleasure to hang around him.

I can’t wait to go and celebrate his birthday with him.

As you’re listening to this yesterday.

So, happy birthday, Killian.

I love you.