This was a very interesting question I had never been presented with before, and at first I found it very perplexing.  But after consideration and prayer, it actually lead me to greater faith.

First, we need to clarify that someone can do wrong without necessarily understanding why what they did was wrong.  For example, if you tell a child not to throw stones, and they throw a stone, they have done wrong.  They may not comprehend how severely someone could be hurt, but they disobeyed and were wrong. 

But disobedience was not the “sin” Adam and Eve committed.  

This is an abbreviated version of the story:  God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree and if they did, they would die.  The devil came along and told them they would not die, but instead would be like God.  They decided to eat the fruit, were banished from the garden and eventually died. 

So what did Adam and Eve really do wrong?  First, they didn’t believe (trust, have faith in) what God told them.  Second, they wanted to be like God.  They were proud enough to think they could be like their creator and decide for themselves what was right and wrong, good and evil.  In short they wanted to trust themselves and not God.

This is essentially what all sin is and is one of the most constant themes of the Bible.  From God dealing with Adam and Eve, to Jesus dealing with the Pharisees, it is the same story.  Man is so proud he thinks he can decide for himself what is right and wrong and choose do whatever he pleases.  God, instead, call us to trust him and faithfully obey him.  Simply put, we are to love God, and love our neighbor.   

It sounds so easy, but it is so hard.  I make the same choice Adam did all the time.

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