Without naming names, someone inevitably comes to mind when you consider relationship scandals within sports in the past couple of years. High profile coaches or players, getting caught in inappropriate relationships: careers tarnished, families upended, accolades forgotten. Why would some of these people who have it all, risk everything for something so…dumb? What were they thinking? The trade off was so lopsided; how could they rationalize that?

In short, sin has a way of clouding one’s judgment. The starkest example is Adam and Eve’s failure in paradise. How could they give up perfect conditions, relationships, and pleasures for sin?

Satan is noted as the “Father of Lies” (John 8:44). Deception is intentionally inconspicuous. Small lies and temptations snowball if they are given traction. Before you know it, you’re buried in an avalanche.

Regarding the title of the article, no, this is not a deep-dive into neuroplasticity. Instead, the Bible itself uses language for those who persist in sin. “Fool” occurs over a hundred times in the Bible to describe someone who is choosing to ignore the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is a worldview with God as Creator and sole receiver of all worship and praise. All things are under God’s authority, and an understanding of the ordering of the universe requires this presupposition. Fools willingly hate this knowledge (Prov. 1:22).

Jesus, on the other hand, is described as “light” - "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” (John 1:4). Jesus reveals the truth about the ordering of the universe and where our purpose is derived: glorifying Him. The Bible describes Jesus as light because in the light of Christ, all things are made light (He reveals reality). Sin keeps things hidden and in the dark, forcing one to make decisions not in accordance with reality.

Our sin keeps us from thinking critically because our bias toward protecting ourselves from being exposed leads us to make, oftentimes, head-scratching decisions. We seek to cover-up our sin. Lies compound and more lies are needed to cover the previous lies. The turmoil of running from repentance may also lead us to seek alternative ways to find peace.

Oftentimes, people with addiction problems didn’t get there because they wanted to be enslaved to a substance. These people were seeking comfort and peace from inner turmoil caused by the reality of sin. Either they were running from God, or didn’t know God. Decisions made while sober and decisions made under the influence are radically different, and yet all decisions made to seek peace not provided by Jesus are ultimately insufficient to meet the need.

Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will receive compassion.” The parallel in this verse is between concealing and confessing. Those who conceal will not prosper. Those who confess find compassion. In this parallelism, we can tell that the prosperity the verse is speaking toward is inward peace, because it is paired with the term compassion, or mercy.

Ultimately, we make poor decisions because we either misunderstand or we run from reality. Through our own sin or the reality of our fallen world, our decisions are often marred or mistaken. Only when we earnestly pray for wisdom are we protected from poor decisions. Jesus desires to guide our paths, so don’t let your sin be the reason you remain in a cycle of poor decisions. Confess, bring it to the light, and you will be protected (Prov 2:1-20).