One of the things we can count on from God is that whenever we ask Him for forgiveness, He will absolutely give it. There will never be a sin we commit that Jesus will not forgive, no matter how bad it is. That kind of grace is truly amazing and should be transforming for all of us as children of God. He is true to His word and we can always stand firm in His promise to forgive us of our sins.
I think something we can look past though, is that while God forgives completely and frees us from the chains of sin by way of the blood of Christ…that is only part of the process of our repentance.
You see, on the other side of God’s forgiveness lives a choice we have to make. Within this choice we will determine whether we fully repent of our sin or only do so in part. No matter what we decide, rest assured that the result will be that our lives will either be better, worse, or in the exact same place that we were before.
This is the reality of true repentance.
It’s not about just feeling guilty for our sin and then asking God for forgiveness so the weight of that guilt is taken away. True repentance is seeking forgiveness and then turning away from the sin that caused us to ask for grace in the first place. If we can’t turn from that sin, than our repentance journey will be incomplete, and further keep us separated from God.
Someone might ask, is it even possible to really turn from a sin that I’m struggling with and never do it again?
My short answer is yes, I think so.
But I don’t want to downplay the fact that turning away from a sin you’re struggling with takes hard work and it’s work that you must choose to perform every day.
Think of your choice to turn your back on your sin, like you would a muscle that you’re trying to strengthen in your body. Working hard and pulling against resistance is the only way you’re going to strengthen that muscle, and over time you’ll get stronger and stronger. On the flip side, if you choose to do nothing with that muscle. If your choice is to not pull against the resistance…then that muscle will weaken and cease to grow with any kind of significance.
We are the same when it comes to overcoming the sins that bind us.
If we’re willing to fight and embrace the struggle of turning on our sin, then we’ll find that the struggle to do what is right will make us strong in the process.
Strong in Spirit and strong in CHARACTER. More able to overcome.
But if we choose to never fight that battle and live out that struggle against our sin, then we’ll be weak. And we’ll keep going back to that sin we keep asking forgiveness for…never overcoming it because of our lack of will and character.
The only way to truly repent and turn from our iniquity, is to be willing to fight and say NO, to giving in to sins choice. The good news is, we’re not alone in the fight. This battle is a Spiritual one, and we can’t win without God’s help. Let your decision to truly repent motivate you to seek Jesus and His assistance.
He’s not there just to forgive, but to show you how to overcome.
You can do this.
We can do this.
Let’s get started.
“…repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with your repentance.”
