Splinters

This past week, I spent some time with Bro. Tyler and Maddie building a new recording wall for our UpNext video announcements! Projects like that seemed daunting when I first arrived at Faith, but I have grown to love them—except for one major problem: splinters! While building the wall, I slid a board and lodged a chunk of wood deep into my finger.

Splinters cause pain that is small but excruciating. It hurts to leave them in, but removing them is also painful. Removal means digging deep, cutting away the trapping skin, and extracting the foreign particle. Leaving a splinter alone might make the pain fade for a while, but it often leads to more pain when it becomes infected. Thankfully, Maddie skillfully helped me remove the long splinter!

This situation brought a lot of thoughts to mind. Our sin is often like a deep, buried splinter. It brings pain to our lives through conviction. Sometimes, we forget it’s there because it’s not easily visible, and the conviction fades away. Like splinters, sin is often painful to remove, but it’s essential. Ignoring its presence only leads to the painful reality of infection and corruption in our lives. We must make three clear decisions about sin:

1. Reject Pridefulness and Embrace Humility

The pain of uncovering a splinter is enough to make you want to stop. Growing up, my mom would use a safety pin to cut away the skin and expose the splinter. This time, Maddie used my knife and a pair of tweezers. Cutting into an injured area is hard, but it brings greater health.

Our pride often stops us from addressing sin. We don’t want others to know about it, so we miss the help that fellow believers and Scripture can offer. To overcome sin, we must allow others to speak biblical truth into our lives and help hold us accountable. Scripture reveals, uncovers, and allows grace to cleanse our sin. This cannot happen if we refuse to admit we have a problem.

As painful as it was, I had to let my mom know about the splinter because she had the tools to remove it. Similarly, Scripture has the tools to help us fight sin, but we must be humble enough to recognize it and deal with it head-on.

2. Remove Sin Radically

There’s always a temptation to leave a splinter in. It might seem small, buried too deep, or inconvenient to remove. Sin often carries the same excuses: "It’s not that big." "No one knows about it." "If I confess, how will it affect others?"

If we want to grow spiritually, we cannot indulge in these excuses. We must remove sin completely. God calls us to pursue holiness, leaving no room for a casual approach to sin. Refusing to address it allows its damage and corruption to continue unchecked.

We also cannot settle for partial removal. All sin must be carved out of our hearts and lives. Sometimes, a buried splinter breaks, requiring more digging to get it all out. Stopping at halfway wouldn’t make sense—the risk of infection remains as long as part of the splinter is left.

3. Wear Gloves

Bear with me on this one. The most frustrating thing about getting a splinter is that it can often be avoided. In my case, a pair of gloves was sitting just 10 inches away. But gloves don’t protect you unless you wear them.

You and I must protect ourselves from sin. We know our sin nature battles within us, so we must take steps to guard against temptation. This means setting boundaries, avoiding certain people or situations, and staying rooted in God’s Word.

In my devotions, I’ve been reading Ephesians and was reminded of the armor of God. It’s there for our protection and flourishing, but it only works if we put it on. So, wear the gloves. Don’t even give sin a chance.

Perhaps you’re like me, dealing with the consequences of not wearing gloves. Radically remove the sin, then take steps to avoid it. Put on the gloves. It won’t completely erase the sting of past mistakes, but it allows you to move forward with boldness.

If we take sin and the pursuit of righteousness seriously, these decisions—rejecting pride, removing sin radically, and protecting ourselves—are non-negotiable.

Serving Together,
Derek Whitman