Sin

      The Greek word translated as "sin" in the Bible actually means "to miss the mark or to fall short of the target."
     Churches have taken this simple word and have wrapped it around guilt, shame and feelings of inferiority and have produced a word "sinner" that creates anxiety in people who feel they are indeed "sinners" and fear the punishment of God. A common thread throughout this spectrum is the linking of thoughts and actions: people with scrupulosity believe their thoughts are the same as actions, so they worry not just about what they have done, but also about what they have thought.
    Even people who are not particularly religious can suffer from this because they are concerned about being morally compromised

The sheer complexity of growing up leads us, s children. to make “wrong” choices. There are so many choices to be had that there are many more ways to go wrong or fall short in making any of them. A 3-year-old rushes into the serious gathering of adults, shouting about his discovery of something special. The adults give him a ‘look’. He knows he has done something wrong. He feels a sinking feeling inside, a heaviness in his chest. He turns his eyes away, looking down.”

That's shame. Shame is learned. It is not innate. That feeling of shame is nature's way of teaching young humans how to live with other humans and follow the rules of society. This might even be the beginning of the conscience. In response to this feeling of shame, a person would be likely to think “I am a bad person” or “I did a bad thing."

The church confirms our inner sense of inferiority, but tells us that these inner feelings are “God telling us that we are sinners".

Religion teaches us that we can get rid of these feelings, arone for being a "sinner" by obeying what the church tells us God wants us to do. We do this and we feel better - but only temporarily. The feelings are still there because church rituals have done nothing. Amd now we feel additionally guilty because we are told we have sinned in some way.
When we put our faith in a set of dogmas instead of reaching out for God, we are participating in vanity. If a man puts his trust in the mysterious doctrines of some church; if he believes that a church has some spiritual authority that can assure him entrance into heaven' he has put his faith in an empty organization instead of God.

The "Abracadabra' of a magician will as surely raise you to
heaven as the words of the best ordained minister on Earth. Except as social organizations, churches in themselves are vain, futile, empty.

Place your hope in God, rather that in some church that claims to speak for God. Pray and meditate and sincerely open your heart to the presence of God. This is the way to free yourself from "sin."