Therefore sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign. The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore, failure to love him is not trivial–it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness.
– John Piper
Christ Alone Wyoming 
This quote is a great one. Knowingly or not, he’s based his thinking on St. Thomas Aquinas (Doctor of the Church). See the Summa Theologica (ST I-II q.87 a.4). In the article, St. Thomas distinguishes between the two objects of every sin: God, and the thing that was wrongly preferred to God. Because God is infinite, turning away from Him is always and everywhere and in whatever form an infinite horror and loss. Because the object chosen instead of God is finite, and generally speaking a good thing in itself (just nowhere near as good as God), in this respect the horror is mitigated.
An example might illuminate:
Suppose a man wants very much to attain a certain degree of financial security (something good in itself). To do so, he lies about his income in order to misrepresent himself to the government, attaches his signature to the lies, and so perjures himself. In doing so, he turns away from God (who is Truth) by violating one of His commandments. This sin is infinitely horrifying in that it represents and enacts an interior turning away from God’s loving will for us. Yet, on the other hand, cheating at taxes is something of a temptation to almost every otherwise respectworthy citizen who sees 1/3 of his income gobbled up for no obvious good reason.
Seen in this light, sin, the trading of a higher good (God) for a lesser one (financial security), seems more stupid than scandalous. The sinner seems more worthy of pity than hatred. It is also clear why the Old Testament’s wisdom literature usually equates sinfulness with foolishness. If people are thinking in terms of God while sinning, then it is indeed rebellion in their heart. Most of the time when people sin, it seems to me more likely that they are just being foolish, seduced by the glamor of the father of lies.
It is probably pity for our foolishness that provoked our Father to send His Son to save us from our sins.
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