One summer, my family and I were enjoying a bonfire. My son was holding our puppy’s leash when a tiny mouse scurried out of the woodpile. My son was not small—but he wasn’t paying attention. And when the puppy lunged for the mouse, my son went flying off his feet with a look of comical surprise. He wasn’t hurt—and we all had a good chuckle. But it really got me thinking.

How often is sin like this?

We might ignore the little sins because we think they aren’t much. It’s not a big deal. Looking at that won’t have a lasting effect. Gossiping like this won’t make a difference. Indulging in this or that “tiny” addiction doesn’t matter much. 

But how often do we underestimate these “little” sins, (it’s just a mouse!) until one day, when we aren’t paying attention, we get pulled off our feet in a BIG way!

“It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick,” says C. S. Lewis’ troublemaking demon in the infamous Screwtape Letters.

Small sins DO matter! Because sin is sin! After all, Adam and Eve felled the world with the bite of one piece of fruit. “Sin entered the world through one man” (Romans 5:12).

Instead of ignoring the “small” sins, we use them as training grounds so that when BIG temptations arrive, we can stand firm.