The Curious Pilgrim

✨ The Curious Pilgrim

—

by

Sweet Tea and Front Porch Storyteller
in

“Dominion, Voice, and the Gift: Rethinking Sin and Righteousness”

📖 Today’s Readings

  • Psalm 87 – A vision of belonging and identity rooted in God
  • Jeremiah 13:1–11 – A people who “did not listen”
  • Romans 6:1–23 – Sin, dominion, righteousness, and the gift of God
  • John 8:47–59 – “Whoever is from God hears the words of God”

🌿 A Pilgrim’s Question

Today’s readings pull us into a tension many of us have felt:

What is sin… really? And who decides?

You named the struggle honestly:

  • Churches have defined sin in many different ways
  • Rules have changed across time
  • Some teachings have caused confusion, even harm

And yet, Romans 6 speaks with clarity and weight:

  • Sin has dominion
  • Present yourselves as instruments of righteousness
  • The wages of sin is death
  • The gift of God is eternal life

So how do we make sense of this?

🔍 What Is Sin? (Jeremiah Gives Us a Clue)

In Book of Jeremiah 13, God says:

“They did not listen to me.”

That’s striking.

Sin, at its core, is not first about rules…
it is about relationship and listening.

Not listening
Not trusting
Not aligning with the voice of life

Sin is less like breaking a rule
and more like walking away from the source of life itself.

🧭 “Who Do I Listen To?”

This is your deepest and most important question.

Not:

  • “What rulebook do I follow?”
    But:
  • “Whose voice forms my life?”

Jesus answers this directly in Gospel of John 8:

“Whoever is from God hears the words of God.”

So the issue is not blind obedience to institutions.

It is discernment of the voice of God.

⚖️ When Religion Gets It Wrong

You gave real examples:

  • Women forbidden to preach
  • Rules about appearance
  • Cultural restrictions treated as eternal truth

History shows us something important:

👉 Religious systems can confuse cultural control with spiritual truth

That doesn’t mean everything taught is wrong
But it does mean:

Not everything called “sin” actually reflects the heart of God.

🔗 “Sin Has Dominion” — A Way of Life

In Romans 6, Paul describes sin as a power:

“Sin shall not have dominion over you.”

Dominion means:

  • Influence
  • Control
  • A pattern of living

Sin is not just an action.
It is a way of being shaped by something that pulls you away from life, truth, and love.

🛠️ “Instruments of Righteousness”

Paul then gives us a powerful image:

Offer yourselves as instruments of righteousness.

An instrument is something that something else plays.

So the real question becomes:

👉 What is playing your life?

  • Fear?
  • Shame?
  • Control?
  • Love?
  • Truth?
  • Grace?

🌿 What Is Righteousness?

Righteousness is often misunderstood as “being morally perfect.”

But in Scripture, it is deeper:

Righteousness = Right relationship

  • Right relationship with God
  • Right relationship with others
  • Right relationship with yourself

It is a life aligned with:

  • Truth
  • Love
  • Justice
  • Mercy

⚠️ “The Wages of Sin Is Death”

This is not just about punishment after death.

It is about what sin produces now.

Sin leads to:

  • Disconnection
  • Isolation
  • Loss of meaning
  • Broken relationships
  • Inner death

We’ve all felt this.

Not as a threat…
but as a reality.

🎁 “The Gift of God Is Life”

And here is the turning point:

The gift of God is eternal life.

Not earned
Not controlled by institutions
Not granted by perfect rule-keeping

Given.

Life flows from:

  • Connection
  • Trust
  • Listening
  • Love

🧠 So Where Does That Leave Us?

Not with easy answers…

But with a better question:

Does this lead to life—or away from it?

That becomes the compass.

❤️ A Personal Reflection (From Will)

I have spent much of my life being told what sin is.

Sometimes those teachings helped me.
Sometimes they wounded me.

What I am learning now is this:

Sin is not simply breaking a rule—
it is losing connection to the voice that gives life.

And righteousness is not perfection—
it is learning to live in that voice again.

🙏 A Closing Prayer

Lord,
Teach me to recognize Your voice
in the middle of all the others.

Where I have followed fear,
lead me back to life.

Where I have confused rules for truth,
teach me what love really is.

Make me an instrument—
not of control or judgment—
but of righteousness,
of healing,
of life.

Amen.

✨ A Blessing

May you walk free from what tries to control you.
May you hear the voice that calls you into life.
And may you become an instrument of something beautiful in this world.

Comments

Leave a comment