All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Fist, the bad news. It may be an unpleasant truth, but it's a truth all the same. The Bible teaches us that everyone - absolutely everyone - is a sinner.

Never thought of yourself as a sinner, right? Figured you were a decent and good individual?
That's very normal - but the bible tells us it's very wrong! Most of us think of sin in terms of the 10 Commandments: 'You shall not kill', 'You shall not steal'. And we convince ourselves that we have never done any of those things.

But wait a minute. What about 'You shall not lie', or 'You shall not covet/envy''? If we are honest, we will accept that that we have broken these countless times over. But 'sin' in the Bible means more than just breaking God's rules. It means living as if He did not exist. It means putting ourselves in charge, and putting Him out of our mind.

It means, effectively, saying: "Shove off God - I'm in charge - No to your rules. There you have it. S.I.N.

Further, since God's standard is perfection (how could it be possibly be anything other?) every time we break one of His rules, - and more importantly, every time we ignore Him, we are 'falling short' of His standard. We fall short of His Glory.