How fond are you of cats? I’m not antagonistic toward cats but I’m not a big cat lover. I would prefer a dog any day over a cat. In fact, I have more allergy problems with cats than I do with dogs; that may be the origin of my antipathy towards them.

Ashley Brooks lives in Charleston, SC and is an avid cat lover. Too much, perhaps. She opened Pounce Cat Cafe back in November. Pounce Cat Cafe is for other cat lovers to come sip wine or drink beer in the midst of twenty roaming kitties.

But Ms Brooks has also suffered from nasal congestion her entire life. It intensified after opening the Pounce Cat Cafe, sending Ms Brooks to the allergy specialist. Yes, it turns out that she is allergic to cats. Rather than cutting back or ending her obsession with cats for the sake of her health, she would rather get a weekly infusion of drugs – allergy shots – to boost her immune system so that she can continue lounging with her felines. She commented to the Post and Courier of Charleston, “They are injecting me with cat so hopefully I won’t be allergic anymore.” (World Magazine, Feb 18, 2017).

While I think that obsession is weird, if not unhealthy, I’m not going further in my criticism of Ms Brooks and others like her who would rather take allergy shots than get rid of their indoor pets.

But, the same behavior is evident when we find ourselves drawn to sins that are inflicting harm to ourselves and others. I’m not just speaking of the obvious – alcohol, drugs, and so forth.

I’m thinking of all sinful behavior that negatively impact our spiritual health, our health with God, and our health with our fellow travelers through life. I’m thinking of sins like sexual immorality (living together without marriage), greed, losing our temper, lack of humility when we’ve been proven wrong, malice, slandering people behind their backs, lying.

The apostle John, the apostle of love, writes: “Do not love the world [Those behaviors and factors in life which the Bible defines as sinful, p.h.] nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

The best thing for our spiritual lives is to get rid of the “cats” and learn how to live a God-pleasing life that is ultimately more fulfilling. Unfortunately, too many of us would rather take the spiritual “allergy” shots of searing our conscience, rather than getting rid of sin: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Don’t “drug” yourself with self-deception. Humbly submit to God’s word and His guidance and leave sinful behavior behind.

–Paul Holland