The Things that Attach and Corrupt

Sin is alive...
It has a will.
It eats.
It hates.
It spares no innocence; gives no quarter; honors no boundaries.
It remains ever hungry, and is never satisfied.
It has one instinct, and one instinct alone:

To attach itself to a host, and impregnate him with a creature that will feed on him... destroy him... and then attack everyone around him.

Sin has a metaphysical element, traveling across creation... across time... and across dimensions. It emits out like a wave, and passes through substance, soil and soul.
It's more destructive than a tsunami.
It permeates more than radiation.
It consumes more than Great White shark.
It's more venomous than a Cobra.
...more encroaching than darkness.
...more communicable than the flu.
...more blinding than cataracts.
...more intoxicating than Everclear.
...more irritating than a rash.
...more scalding than boiling water.
and more tactical than a chess master.

It's faster than a viper strike.
...colder than wind chill.
...sharper than a straight razor;
and meaner than a bully.

With sinister cunning, this creature eludes detection until it is close enough to pounce. All of its sensors reach out with mystical searching, seeking to find its prey and perceive its weakness. It crouches at the door (Gen 4:7) of the dark room. Lying in wait, it's patient to await just the right moment to launch through the air and land on the unsuspecting. As the legs extend out to secure a grip, its tail wraps around the horrified victim. If the victim cannot resist well at this point, the creature attaches firmly to the face so as to implant its destructive seed down their gullet. If they can resist, the fight is violent and erratic. So determined is the muscular, spider-like alien to affix itself securely to the new host, that removing it takes the timely and persistent help from friends that care deeply enough to get their hands on the thing and pull with all their might. In fact, unless the quick assistance of beloved associates intervenes, the struggle may be short lived. This creature is strong, agile and wiggly.

Sin, a living thing, does not rest until it attaches itself to the child of God, and lays in them the "seed" of a creature than can destroy them from within and will terrorize those around them. If their family, their friends and their church doesn't step in with loving vigilance, Sin is often too strong for them to fight alone. This is why secrecy is such a friend to Sin, and confession is so harmful to it. Through transparency and confession (James 5:16) the community becomes aware that quick help is vital. In addition, Sin's ability to affix itself to the soul is weakened by confession as well. It's a great mystery, but the very things one would want to keep to themselves out of shame must be shared with others to overcome.

How unfortunate that the historic practice of confession fell out of favor with Protestant traditions. Psychologists and counselors has their use, to be sure, but they MUST be viewed as secondary to the timeless necessity for an officer of the Church declaring, after hearing your confession, "God offers forgiveness to the penitent. Go in peace." This "creature" is determined, and the Church must be more so, if indeed it loves the sinner seeking release from it.

Sin is alive. It's seeks to dominate, impregnate, destroy and multiply. The help of those quick to aid is vital. Though God has granted the Believer great abilities, seemingly absent from those is the strength to fight away the "creature" in isolation.