Someone hands you a gift with a big label on top. It says, PAIN. Do you want this gift? NO WAY! “I hope you kept the receipt,” you say. “Because this baby’s going back to the store!”

Pain does not seem like a good gift. But the ability to sense pain is a blessing. Your body uses pain to talk to you. It tells you, “Stop! Your finger is pinched in the car window!” It says, “Put down that burning hot pan!” It warns you: “Change what you’re doing, or your body will be seriously damaged!”

Researchers have tried out RTX as medicine for dogs. Wired Magazine says dogs came in limping, got RTX injections, and left able to run. But doctors do not widely use RTX for people yet. It is being thoroughly tested—a very good idea when you’re thinking about shooting something toxic into a person’s body! And if RTX does ever become commonly used, doctors won’t give it to just anyone. That’s because it is not a good idea to take away pain-sensing in most situations. But it could work well for helping patients near the ends of their lives handle pain. It should work for people with bad pain in their joints too.

When people first sinned, terrible pain came into the world. God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:17) And God wasn’t kidding! Pain is the body’s way of telling us something’s wrong with us. And pain is God’s way of telling us there is something wrong with the world—sin. But God’s kindness also leads us to repentance. (Romans 2:4) He sent Jesus to suffer the pain and punishment of sin on our behalf, and He can give us the power to turn away from sin and be in right relationship with Him again. When we see Him face to face, all the pain in the world will be gone.

Are you able to sense the harm sin does in your life? If you can, your “sin nerves” are working. You can thank God for that!