The Small Sin That Opened the Way to the Great Ones
In Egypt there once lived a hermit monk. For many years he struggled against temptation, striving to live in prayer, fasting, and spiritual purity. But the demon would not leave him in peace.
One day, after a long struggle with him, the demon said: “I will stop tempting you. Just commit one of these three sins: kill a man, commit fornication, or get drunk — just once. Do only one of them, and I will leave you alone.”
The hermit thought it over. Murder is a terrible sin — I don’t want to take a human life. Fornication is shameful, a defilement of the body. But to get drunk just once… what is that, really? I’ll drink, I’ll sleep it off, and go on with my life.
And so, convinced he had chosen the “lesser evil,” he went down into the town. He got drunk. Then, in his drunkenness, he fell into conversation with a shameless woman. The conversation turned into fornication. At that moment, her husband arrived. He found the hermit with his wife, and a fight broke out.
The hermit, in rage and fear, overpowered the man — and killed him. With one “small” compromise, he had fallen into all three sins he had once found abhorrent.
Drunkenness led to fornication. Fornication led to a fight. The fight led to murder. And it all began with a single sentence: “Just once.”
This ancient story, recorded in the works of St. Demetrius of Rostov, is not only a story about one hermit. It is a warning for each of us.
Because even today, temptation rarely comes with the words, “Commit a great sin.”
More often it comes like this: “Just one coffee.” “Just one message.” “Just one outing.” “Just one drink.” “Just one meeting.” “Let’s just talk.” “I’ll just take a little.” “Nothing will happen.”
This is how the greatest falls begin — with something that at first seems small and harmless. The devil does not need to convince us all at once to abandon God. It is enough, at first, to convince us to take one small step away from Him.
Then another. And another. And one day a person finds himself somewhere he never imagined he would end up.
So do not play with sin. Do not negotiate with temptation.
Do not say, “I know my limits” — because often we do not know how weak we are until we have already opened the door.
Sin does not begin with the fall. It begins with the justification made before the fall.
And when we do fall? Do not despair.
This same story shows us the other great truth of the Christian faith: there is no sin greater than God’s mercy, when a person truly repents.
The hermit, through true repentance, found his way back to God. What he lost through his fall, he regained through sincere repentance and God’s mercy.
So — if you have fallen, rise. If you have sinned, repent. If you have set out on the wrong path, turn back while you still can.
And most important of all: do not take the first step toward sin.
Because that very “just once” may be the beginning of something that changes your whole life. Guard your soul. Guard your family. Guard your faith.
And when temptation says to you, “Just once…” — answer: “No. I don’t want it, not even once.”
Sources and further reading
- This ancient story is recorded in the works of St. Demetrius of Rostov.
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