Yesterday my oldest son got caught skipping his Spanish class
with a so called “friend”. Something I never ever expected from him. My first
feeling was that of disappointment, not anger but disappointment. How could
Zachary do this…….this is not at all like him? As we “calmly” discussed the
situation on the way to church last night he told me that he knew that it was
wrong, but that he did it because his friend asked him to. I explained to my
kids that I will always try my best to show them the very same grace that God
has shown me. I explained to them how God may discipline us for our sins, but
that he will always do it with Love and Grace. I wanted them to understand that
all though they may get punished and will have to pay the consequences I will
still love them and they will be forgiven. As I was explaining this to them I had
one of those, “aha” moments. You know, the moment when the Holy Spirit is
talking through you and you here the things coming out of your mouth and you
go, “AHA, I see!!!!”
If you’re anything like me you may have some of those
habitual sins that you can’t seem to shake…..or may even tell yourself that you
don’t need to shake. You may think about doing something, realizing that it is
wrong, but go through with it anyways. I think sometimes as believers we try to
tell ourselves that He has grace on us, he has already paid the price, this one
little sin isn’t going to do any harm……I am forgiven. We use his Grace as our “get
out of jail free” card. Sounds good in theory, but as I was talking to my kids
last night I realized the true ramifications of this ideology. Yes God has
forgiven me for all of my sins; past, present, and future. Yes we are
imperfect, and will never be worthy of the wonderful Grace that he has given
us, but does that mean that we can’t try? Here’s the thing that I told my kids
last night in that moment. When we sin, God says “I forgive you, I already sent
my son to die for these sins”, and when we repent and remove the sin we say “thank
you Lord for your son Jesus Christ, and thank you for the sacrifice that he
paid for me on the cross, your love for me is unconceivable”. But when we sin and
God says “I forgive you, I already sent my son to die for these sins”, and we
continue to do the same sin over and over and over again, or we know that we
shouldn’t do something and do it anyways, we are saying “thank you Lord for your
son Jesus Christ, but I am better than he, and this sin is worth way more to me
than the sacrifice that was paid. Your son was great, but I am greater”.
OUCHHHHH!!!!!! Hurts doesn’t it? Yes, and I say that every single time I do
something that I know I shouldn’t be doing, or when I repeatedly do the same
thing. The sad thing is that neither our realization of this, nor our consequences
for these actions, will ever hurt nearly as much as pain that Jesus endured for
our sins. Do we leave another scar on his side with every sin we do? I don’t
know, but I am pretty sure that it puts a tear in his eye.
7 So humble
yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to
God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your
hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be
tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be
sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. James
4:7-10
