Ever have that thought that keeps you up at night and won't let you go to sleep? That's why I'm here right now.
The thought on my mind has to do with sin and forgiveness. Recently I've been struggling with something. A friend of mine committed a sin...it's a pretty blatant sin if we're defining it biblically, which is how we define sin anyway. The thing that has been bugging me about it is that no one really seems to care or take it too seriously. I've talked to a few friends about it and have mostly been getting a "eh, whatever" reaction. Because I feel dumbfounded about it, I do what I do best...I get frustrated about it. So I've been struggling for awhile with this and tonight God reached me and gave me a beautiful thought.
First of all, sin is sin. Murder, rape, lying, stealing, it's sin and it's breaking God's law, causing a rift in our holy relationship. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" - James 2:10. But because of these circumstances surrounding the sin of my friend, I gave into temptation as well and also sinned. My sin was judgment, lack of forgiveness and compassion, pride, anger, among other things I'm sure. Even though all sins separate us from God, we still "rank" them. Murder is worse than lying, rape is worse than stealing, and so on. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but that's not what I want to focus on. My sin separated me from God as much as my friend's sin did. My friend's sin is ranked high on my "list" of sins, which is why I became angry.
Did I do much to help the situation? No, not really. I was frustrated and I let that affect me and others. But God led me to a song that I've been listening to all night: "Take Me As I Am" by Lecrae. I'm not even joking when I say that every syllable of every word in this song is convicting to me. The chorus can sum it up: "Will You take me as I am? / I know the way I'm livin' is wrong / I wonder, how could You love me when my life's so ugly / but You came down and died for me / Will you take me as I am?" That, along with the end of the first verse: "I thought at first I had to clean up my life / Now I'm hearin' I just need to cling to the light / I'm ready to do it, but Lord I pray you understand, / My life is a mess. Will you take me as I am?" This song is incredibly powerful. It shows the desperate and depraved state that we're in and that we can do nothing to bring ourselves out of it. Shamed, we avoid God, thinking we have to somehow try to make ourselves pure before entering His presence. Isaiah certainly thought so. "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." - Isaiah 6:5. Adam certainly thought so too. "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." - Genesis 3:10. They experienced shame because of the state that they were in. But God answers: "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." - Isaiah 6:6-7. He answers again: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16. Because of the love of God, we're now free to enter into His presence, which is exactly what God wants. He wants us to love Him and be close to Him. Unashamed, for all is forgiven.
The song, the verses. What is God saying? "Alright. I'm done with it! It's in the past. We're forgetting about it. We're moving on. We've dealt with it." That's what God is saying through these words. We had a guest evangelist at my church last Sunday who told us to "have a funeral" for our sins. We are alive in Christ and dead to sin, therefore we can bury our sin six feet under...not forgetting it, but learning from it and forsaking it.
And if God is up somewhere in the heavens forgiving sins and moving on...shouldn't I do the same? Why should I sit here and continue to judge and be frustrated? Surely my sins aren't any better or worse than someone else's, especially with this plank in my eye as Jesus says I have. That doesn't necessarily mean I should flat-out ignore it when someone sins. That's not helping them grow closer to God. Sins should be addressed and discussed biblically, and work put in to avoid the sin in the future. But if it is dealt with and repentance is gained, that should be the end of it. A true definition of forgive and forget.
I'm certainly not saying I have an all-wise handle on this (especially at 2:16am, current time). But no matter what sin we commit, we can always come to God with it and He will take us just as we are because He sees us at the heart and loves us. We're not defined by the sin we commit...we are defined by exactly what God tells us we are. My definition is White Knight because God told me that's what I am. But even the strongest of Christ's warriors sin on a daily basis. And in light of this, Colossians 3:12-13 states "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." I'm so glad for this message from God. Since God takes us just as we are, we should take our brother and sister just as they are. Not judgmental, not angry, but with all that Colossians states. My friends, I screw up on a daily basis, and if I'm your friend I will let each and every one of you down because I am imperfect. Will you please take me as I am, and ask me to do the same for you just as God does for us?
The thought on my mind has to do with sin and forgiveness. Recently I've been struggling with something. A friend of mine committed a sin...it's a pretty blatant sin if we're defining it biblically, which is how we define sin anyway. The thing that has been bugging me about it is that no one really seems to care or take it too seriously. I've talked to a few friends about it and have mostly been getting a "eh, whatever" reaction. Because I feel dumbfounded about it, I do what I do best...I get frustrated about it. So I've been struggling for awhile with this and tonight God reached me and gave me a beautiful thought.
First of all, sin is sin. Murder, rape, lying, stealing, it's sin and it's breaking God's law, causing a rift in our holy relationship. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" - James 2:10. But because of these circumstances surrounding the sin of my friend, I gave into temptation as well and also sinned. My sin was judgment, lack of forgiveness and compassion, pride, anger, among other things I'm sure. Even though all sins separate us from God, we still "rank" them. Murder is worse than lying, rape is worse than stealing, and so on. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but that's not what I want to focus on. My sin separated me from God as much as my friend's sin did. My friend's sin is ranked high on my "list" of sins, which is why I became angry.
Did I do much to help the situation? No, not really. I was frustrated and I let that affect me and others. But God led me to a song that I've been listening to all night: "Take Me As I Am" by Lecrae. I'm not even joking when I say that every syllable of every word in this song is convicting to me. The chorus can sum it up: "Will You take me as I am? / I know the way I'm livin' is wrong / I wonder, how could You love me when my life's so ugly / but You came down and died for me / Will you take me as I am?" That, along with the end of the first verse: "I thought at first I had to clean up my life / Now I'm hearin' I just need to cling to the light / I'm ready to do it, but Lord I pray you understand, / My life is a mess. Will you take me as I am?" This song is incredibly powerful. It shows the desperate and depraved state that we're in and that we can do nothing to bring ourselves out of it. Shamed, we avoid God, thinking we have to somehow try to make ourselves pure before entering His presence. Isaiah certainly thought so. "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." - Isaiah 6:5. Adam certainly thought so too. "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." - Genesis 3:10. They experienced shame because of the state that they were in. But God answers: "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." - Isaiah 6:6-7. He answers again: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16. Because of the love of God, we're now free to enter into His presence, which is exactly what God wants. He wants us to love Him and be close to Him. Unashamed, for all is forgiven.
The song, the verses. What is God saying? "Alright. I'm done with it! It's in the past. We're forgetting about it. We're moving on. We've dealt with it." That's what God is saying through these words. We had a guest evangelist at my church last Sunday who told us to "have a funeral" for our sins. We are alive in Christ and dead to sin, therefore we can bury our sin six feet under...not forgetting it, but learning from it and forsaking it.
And if God is up somewhere in the heavens forgiving sins and moving on...shouldn't I do the same? Why should I sit here and continue to judge and be frustrated? Surely my sins aren't any better or worse than someone else's, especially with this plank in my eye as Jesus says I have. That doesn't necessarily mean I should flat-out ignore it when someone sins. That's not helping them grow closer to God. Sins should be addressed and discussed biblically, and work put in to avoid the sin in the future. But if it is dealt with and repentance is gained, that should be the end of it. A true definition of forgive and forget.
I'm certainly not saying I have an all-wise handle on this (especially at 2:16am, current time). But no matter what sin we commit, we can always come to God with it and He will take us just as we are because He sees us at the heart and loves us. We're not defined by the sin we commit...we are defined by exactly what God tells us we are. My definition is White Knight because God told me that's what I am. But even the strongest of Christ's warriors sin on a daily basis. And in light of this, Colossians 3:12-13 states "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." I'm so glad for this message from God. Since God takes us just as we are, we should take our brother and sister just as they are. Not judgmental, not angry, but with all that Colossians states. My friends, I screw up on a daily basis, and if I'm your friend I will let each and every one of you down because I am imperfect. Will you please take me as I am, and ask me to do the same for you just as God does for us?
