Almighty God, our Father in heaven, wants everyone to know we are eternal beings—and that we have a common enemy who seeks to rob us of the good God desires for us to enjoy forever. At the core of what God offers is a personal relationship with Him, rooted in His immeasurable love—freely given through trust in the gospel of grace and mercy made possible by Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection.

But our enemy’s greatest aim is to keep us far from the mercy and grace of Jesus, so that we remain identified by our sin—separated from the relationship God designed us for.

Sin: The Enemy’s Point of Access

Satan knows that sin is the only barrier that can prevent us from knowing God personally. His core strategy has never changed: he works to make us oblivious to sin’s nature and gravity. The Bible describes sin as evil, deceitful, wicked, and prideful.

This tactic started in the Garden of Eden, where Satan challenged God’s truth:

“Did God really say…?” and
“In fact, God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

These deceptive words leveraged pride and twisted truth. The enemy’s strategy always begins by questioning who God is and what God has done. Next, he tries to blur or eliminate the contrast between evil and good—making sin seem less than what it is.

Every time we soften our definition of sin and what God calls evil, we move toward the enemy’s goal: separation from God.

The Impact of Softening Sin

History shows us the devastating effect of failing to acknowledge sin for what it truly is. This leads people to turn away from the truth of God’s Word and the gift of His grace and mercy through Christ.

There’s a tendency in many of us to soften sin in order to emphasize God’s love. But this approach ignores the truth that:

Sin offends God so profoundly that Jesus came to be the perfect sacrifice to wash it away.

Jesus died because sin is immeasurable evil. This is exactly why the enemy aims to soften our view of it—so we become less sensitive and eventually indifferent to its consequences.

A Personal Awakening

Recently, this truth struck me deeply. A dear friend introduced me to the capabilities of AI. After seeing how it could be used for good, I decided to experiment by inputting Psalm 36 into various engines. The chapter contains 6 verses about evil and 6 about God’s goodness. Each response I received focused exclusively on God’s love—barely acknowledging the verses about evil and the wicked. None of the AI-generated devotionals addressed David’s warnings. This experience revealed how subtle the enemy’s strategy can be—even influencing the tools we use to reflect on Scripture. The danger is real: when we stop naming sin for what it is, we begin to slip from God’s heart and drift into agreement with the enemy’s strategy.

“Sin” becomes softer.
“Evil” is less discussed.
“Truth” is blurred.
And hearts begin to harden.

The Enemy’s Victory Is Our Silence

Whenever churches, communities, or individuals stop addressing sin directly, the enemy gains ground. The Bible doesn’t shy away from calling sin what it is—and neither should we:

Numbers 23:19:
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

2 Timothy 3:16–17:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

True relationship with God requires that we believe everything He says—not just the comforting parts. If we truly trust Him, we’ll seek His truth fully… especially what He says about Himself and about sin.

A Prayer of Repentance and Renewal

Dear Lord Jesus, I see how I’ve allowed the softening of sin in my life. I thank You for Your great mercy and grace—that You suffered and died to cleanse me. Please help me be more aware of how deeply sin offends Your heart. Make my heart more sensitive to Your grief over evil, deceit, and pride. Teach me to recognize these attributes in and around my life, and to turn away from them—and toward You. Amen.