There are foods I really like, and those I'd rather never see, smell or certainly taste—Brussels sprouts, for instance. My childhood memories of those things are not happy ones. For one thing, you can chew a Brussels sprout for a long time and never be able to swallow it—they won't go down! When our daughter was young, she called that kind of food, "Yuk food." I’ve never been tempted to binge or stuff myself with Brussels sprouts—even if they're dipped in chocolate!

Now pizza, that's another thing. When there is pizza around I'm tempted to eat till I can’t breathe. I love pizza, even though I know it is not the healthiest food around. It’s a temptation because I happen to love it.

Sin is like that. We are tempted by the sins we like. You may say, "No! I hate doing those things." It’s true, sin is self-destructive—it hurts us. And if it was as simple as that, no one would sin. The problem is sin also carries with it some pleasure, or brings some temporary relief from pain. We like the pleasure or the relief—it’s the after-effects that we don’t like. Sometimes the pleasure outweighs the pain.

As a young pastor I received a call around 1 a.m. from a distraught member of our church. Her husband was driving somewhere around the countryside—drunk. She pleaded with me to go and look for him, which I did. I recall getting a little cranky with this man (who was also a member of my church), after about an hour of driving around. Didn't he know the trauma he was causing his family and the major inconvenience to me? Why did he do such things? What was wrong with him anyway?

Then it hit me—just because you are fortunate enough to not be tempted with alcohol doesn't mean you're any better off than he is. You've got your own issues—a sinner like anyone else and plagued by your own self-destructive behaviors. I confessed the distasteful and repulsive sin of being self-focused and unloving.

The Bible is clear—God hates sin and He loves me. He sees me and those around me through blood-stained, grace-filled lenses and longs to save us from sin and sinfulness. But how can we be changed? These encouraging words give me hope: "If we consent, [Christ] will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. … Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us" (The Desire of Ages, p. 68).

Wow! Sin can be to me like Brussels sprouts! Even the sin of not loving unlovable people.

In our quest to embrace the righteousness of God within our hearts, let's draw close to Him and see ourselves and those around us through His eyes.