The Ultimate Sin

The ultimate sin, Scripture teaches, is the desire to reform others according to our own ideas a sinful attempt to play god by reshaping people to suit ourselves. Many of the conflicts people face in families, churches, and workplaces come from this very arrogance. God does not call us to change others; only He can do that. He calls us to change ourselves by conforming to His Word, while leaving the transformation of others to His grace. Yet our age exalts the opposite, praising leaders who try to remake society by coercion, legislation, and social engineering, all of which assume that man not God has the power to change human nature. True reformation begins with God conforming us to Christ (Rom. 8:29), renewing our minds (Rom. 12:2), and crucifying our self-righteous desire to fix the world. Therefore, when someone eagerly proposes to reform everyone else, recognize the would-be god and beware lest you find him staring back at you in the mirror.