Church Father Augustine said: “The essence of sin is disordered love.”*

What did he mean?

We all love things. We love people, we love friends, we love music, we love certain ideas, we love our favourite snacks, we love our hobbies, and we love God (hopefully!) 

But if we love things in the wrong order this, Augustine says, is the essence of sin.

For example, if you love your hobby more than your family, that’s a problem. And if you love music more than God, that too is a problem. When our loves are in the wrong order, we are bringing disunity, dissonance, disobedience, and harm into our lives.

If we put good things in a bad order, good things can leave us in a bad way.

In James 4:1 we read: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” These are the things we seek ever so strongly—the passions or pleasures that compete for our time and attention. This verse is a reminder that we sometimes have an internal civil war waging within us about what our true priorities should be.

“The essence of sin is disordered love.”

What in your life has become disordered?

Put your love of God first—and thereby bring greater unity, harmony, obedience and help to the other areas of your life as well.

Notes and extra content:

-*Augustine makes this argument in book two of the Confessions.
-“Disordered Loves.” Sermon. Click here. April 6, 2025.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.