Rachel Whisman

During recess, one of my students ran up to me and reported that another student cut the corner while walking their laps at recess. Once I saw this student, I called her over, and when she arrived, I calmly asked her, “When you were walking laps earlier, did you cut the corner?” She quickly looked at me and responded with, “No,” as she nervously looked away. I pushed further and asked her again, but with an old-school teacher trick. I added some magical words to the end of my question and asked her again, “Did you cut the corner just a little bit?” This somehow gave her the vulnerability to share the truth with me. She responded this time with “Yes, ma’am”. 

Four words, “just a little bit,” were added, but they managed to make her mistake seem less burdensome. It helped disassociate her ownership of the problem and make it feel more distant, and hold her less accountable for her actions. It helped me unlock the truth from her, but for her, it exposed her sin. 

This theme of softening sin, not making it seem as bad as it truly is, was first put on display not on an elementary school playground but in the Garden of Eden. Not with the words, “just a little bit,” but with the distorting question of “Did God actually say…” undermining the authority of God (Gen. 3:1-6). Yet, this “little” disobedience caused eternal separation from God. Even though in their eyes it may have seemed insignificant because it was just a little bit different than what God wanted. 

The same is true for us. It can be a cautionary yield sign of discernment in your temptation to sin. Where have I acted just like my student, going to the Lord and telling Him, “but it was just a little bit.” When have I tried softening sin to make it seem more comfortable, more approachable? Where are you willing to add “just a little bit” to something to make it seem okay? Where are you willing to cave in for “just a little bit” more? What do you struggle with that you could fill in this blank: It wouldn’t hurt if I watch/read/listen to _____ just a little bit more. 

The word of God says, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). It is not a distant fire, but one that we are either smoldering or actively pursuing to smother by the help of the Holy Spirit because we are weak in and of ourselves. The only way to rule over it is to submit to the one who ruled over it for us, trampled death, and walk by His Spirit, so we do not gratify the desires of our flesh (Galatians 5:17). 

As we deal with sin, the opposite of “just a little bit” is true as well. As believers, we have the promise that God will change us into His image just a little bit at a time as we fix our gaze on Him (2 Cor. 3:18) and the hope in His power to do it from Philippians 1:6, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Each day, as we “put to death” and “put on the new self,” we become just a little bit more like Jesus and enjoy Him just a little bit more as well.