"The thoughts behind the sin are worse than the sin itself." what does it mean, "worse than the sin"? of course the punishment for a thought is not like that of the sin itself, so what is the meaning of "worse etc" there are a few understandings, the simple one being- that a person who commits a sin will eventually regret it and understand that he's made a mistake, and will repent for it because he knows he's done an evil act. 