This short essay is adopted from a sermon that was delivered by the author. In it Sheikh Muhammad ibn Saalih ibn Utaymeen discusses the seriousness of committing sins and the effects that they have upon us. He highlights the point that every time a disaster strikes us we are quick to conclude that it was due to political, economic or some other materialistic reason. However the author very clearly suggests that we aught to look towards our own sins first, since calamities befall us as a result of them. Plenty of verses are quoted from the Qur’an to substantiate this argument.