Have you ever sinned? Of course you have. Anyone who has been a Christian more than a few minutes knows that “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We also know that when we asked him to, God freely forgave us for our sin and gave us everlasting life. We became “new creatures.” Cool, huh?
I was a little shocked though—maybe you were too—to find that even as a “new creature” I quite regularly missed the mark. I knew I had been forgiven. I knew God had cleansed me. I knew he had even cast my sins as far as the east is from the west, but I still made wrong choices—my attitude wasn’t always the best, I sometimes bent the truth…just a little and I wasn’t always as loving as I should have been. But, I didn’t break any of the “big” rules, like the ten commandments, so I was pretty confident—well hopeful anyway— that God would continue to forgive me.
But, many of the men and women we work with that are recovering from addictions don’t feel that same confidence. More of them than I can count have expressed some variation of “Yeah, I know God does incredible things for other people, but look at what I’ve done, look at how many times I’ve failed him, I’m pretty sure I’ve disqualified myself from his blessings.”
If that were really true, wouldn’t it mean “little” sins are forgivable, “big” sins are not. But sin is sin. There is no continuum. It isn’t measured in a range. It’s really more like missing a scheduled flight. Once the door of the airplane is closed and it begins to back away from the terminal, you have missed your flight. It doesn’t matter if you are ONE minute late or if you are three HOURS late, the consequences are still the same. You’ve missed the connection.
In the same way, it doesn’t matter if your sin is a little white lie or a cold-blooded murder, the spiritual consequences are still the same. Our actions separate us from God.
It’s important to realize that the solution is the same for both, too. All we need to do is turn back to God and ask for his forgiveness. The Bible says he is faithful and just to forgive us of ALL our transgressions and, thereby, reunite us with Him.
It really doesn’t matter how big our sins seem, or how often we have slipped back into them, God still loves us, forgives us, and totally accepts us when we turn back toward him. As we open our lives up to him, and seek his truth, he not only helps us calm that sin nature, but he will use our story—our experiences—to encourage others in their struggles. He can truly make something beneficial out of the worst we have to offer him.
It reminds me of this quote that is plastered all over the internet:
GOD can turn
a MESS into a MESSage,
a TEST into a TESTimony,
a TRIal into a TRIumph
a VICTim into a VICTory
Source unknown
That’s just the kind of incredible God we serve. Instead of trying to measure the size of our sin, we’d be better off using that time to reflect on the amazing awesomeness of our God!
What awesome things has God being doing in your life lately? Bless us all with a wee bit of your story in the reply box below!
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