You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

Reading The Screwtape Letters, I was struck by the warning that it’s not spectacular sins that usually destroy a soul, it’s the small, unnoticed ones.

C.S. Lewis points out that “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without milestones, without signposts.” It’s not about big failures; it’s about the slow drift away from God through tiny compromises and endless distractions.

This challenged me to realize: it’s not enough just to avoid obvious evil. I need to guard against wasting my life on things that quietly pull me away from God.

Even small steps matter, both away from Him, and back toward Him. Today, I want to keep choosing the Light, one small step at a time.