St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain in his book Spiritual Exercises develops many arguments about how much damage is caused by the so-called light or small sins. Unfortunately many people, says the Saint, with a light conscience dismiss many deviations from the will of God, saying, “It is nothing that I told a little lie, is nothing, … that I made a joke, that I smoke, that I got angry, that I gossiped once, that I ate more than necessary … The Bible assures us that even for our idle talking we will give account to God (see. Matthew 12:36); and for overeating and for making fun will give account to God (see. Luke 6:25). Small sins are those that we call them as such so we can discern them from the big deadly sins. A lake is called small when is compared with the ocean. But in itself is not small. It has thousands and even millions of cubic meters of water. Thus, all sins have their “weight”, whether small or large. Even the small or “light” sins are damaging.
Translated by Dr. Nick Stergiou
