Exploring Anabaptist Faith Together

Wrath is the most obvious of the Seven Deadly Sins. Wrath is anger to the nth degree. Wrath blinds us. In the passion story, it is the wrath of humankind, not God, that kills Jesus.

Love, on the other hand, is the source from which all other virtues originate. Each of the Seven Deadly Sins is a perversion of love. Once love is transformed, it overcomes the power of Sin, misdirected love. And we find that all our virtues, this transformed love, point us to the call to live out the love of God.

Sloth is one of the more unassuming and nefarious of the seven deadly sins.  Sloth is indifference embodied.  Sloth does not love.  In the passion story, Pilate embodies slothfulness; when given the opportunity to act on behalf of love, he does nothing -- he literally washes his hands.

Alternatively, the virtues in opposition to sloth are joy and passion.  If sloth is being disconnected, joy is a dramatic connection to God.  If sloth is a lack of love, passion is love that gives our lives purpose.  To overcome sloth, we must reengage with God and with the world around us.

Gluttony is more than food, though it is often focused on food. At the root of gluttony is a fear is scarcity; that there won’t be enough. Gluttony is a misplaced hunger and a mistrust of God’s providence.

The virtue of temperance and the practice of ‘enough’ reminds us that what is available is sufficient—that there is enough. Scripture reminds us that we need not fear, for God provides all we need.

Lust is an inescapable vice to which no one is immune. Lust reduces sexual gratification to one's own physical, individual self-gratification. Everyone at one point or another falls victim to Lust’s hollow desires. Lust is a vice because it doesn’t honour the fullness of love.

Chastity is the virtue usually held in opposition to Lust. However, Chastity is not necessarily celibacy. It is directing our love appropriately. A chaste life leads us to put love in its right place: loving God and loving our neighbour.

Greed is not just a matter of desire, but it is also a matter of idolatry. Greed is a worship of money and wealth for its own sake. In Greed our desires get the better of us, bringing out the worst in us.

Generosity or Charity is placed opposite to Greed. We return our trust to God by releasing what could control us. Additionally, as we generously share what has been gifted to us, we become a blessing to others.

Envy is the sin no one confesses. It’s been called the “ulcer of the soul” in that all that envy does is take joy away from you and give you only pain without pleasure. Envy strips us of our ability to love because envy’s love is devoted only to loving the bitering of oneself because of what one doesn’t have. Eventually leading us into our own individual exile.

Contentment, alternatively, is a form of gratitude and appreciation. If envy is feeling bitter about what one doesn’t have and blaming God for it, then contentment is appreciating what one does have and thanking God for it.

Pride is the root of all sin.  It's subtle and is not always obvious.  It is, in its simplest form, an overabundant love of oneself--something our culture and society have managed to transform into a virtue.

Standing opposite to pride is the virtue of humility.  Humility is a profound recognition of who we are and what we know.  It is recognizing that what we know isn't the end-all and be-all.  Humility reminds us that there is a God and we are not it.

Our Children's Sunday School program took some time each week to explore the experience of displaced persons around the world, and the result was a great opportunity to learn about our congregation.

Disciples Practice Peace