{"id":10511,"date":"2016-06-29T04:45:27","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T09:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=10511"},"modified":"2016-06-29T04:45:27","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T09:45:27","slug":"the-difference-between-a-sin-and-a-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-difference-between-a-sin-and-a-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difference Between a Sin and a Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent years, I have noticed an increasing tendency for people to confuse mistakes<\/em> with sins<\/em>. It happens at every level, whether someone is caught cheating on their spouse, filing false insurance claims, or shoplifting from a clothing store.<\/p>\n\n

Last week I read about the sex scandal that shipwrecked Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. Married for five decades, he threw it away for a female staffer thirty years his junior.<\/p>\n

Bentley, now divorced, no longer talks with his family. He hasn\u2019t even met his eighth grandchild, according to a well reported story in GQ<\/em><\/a>. But what stood out for me is how the governor spoke about his affair. <\/p>\n

\u201cI made a mistake. Two years ago I made a mistake,\u201d he said at a press conference<\/a>. “Today I want to apologize to the people of the state of Alabama and once again, I want to apologize to my family. I am truly sorry and I accept full responsibility.”<\/p>\n

Evading Responsibility<\/h3>\n

The admission reminded me of the scandal that sank Senator John Edwards. He was having an affair with a staffer while his wife was dying of cancer<\/a>. He also characterized it as a mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago I made a very serious mistake,\u201d he admitted<\/a>, \u201ca mistake that I am responsible for and no one else\u2026 I told Elizabeth about the mistake, asked her for her forgiveness, asked God for his forgiveness. And we have kept this within our family since that time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Like Bentley\u2019s admission, Edwards\u2019 statement seems humble and contrite on the surface. What more could you want?<\/p>\n

But when people refer to this kind of behavior as a mistake<\/em> rather than a sin, they are either consciously or unconsciously evading responsibility\u2014even while they claim to accept responsibility. Why?<\/p>\n

Because of the fundamental difference between the two terms. Many people assume they are synonymous. They\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

A Critical Difference<\/h3>\n

The term “mistake” implies an error in judgment\u2014something done unintentionally. For example, a legitimate mistake might be:<\/p>\n