What is your greatest sin? Something you’ve done in the past, or is it something you’re doing now?
Sin is a deadly monster. It’s a virus we’re all born with, a parasite that takes us over from the inside out. As something we have all inherited from the beginning, the question could be raised: what’s the most destructive thing you’ve ever done.
I’ve done a lot of things I regret, there are still times I say or think something that fills me with guilt. I keep repenting, but episodes keep coming, new dark scenes of my life. I used to think I was unworthy to be used because of the things I’d done in the past. However, in the height of guilt over something I’d just done, one night, while in prayer, I felt God say, “You are worthy.” It struck me as absurd, something I was making up in order to make me feel good about approaching the Lord in worship. But He touched me. His hands, pure and holy, touched me, one who’d lived the exact opposite, and I knew after I had confessed, I was already forgiven.
But that question was still ringing in my ears, and I’m sure it’s yelling at everyone else the same. However, I’ve learned over the years that my greatest sin isn’t the things I’d done in the past, it was something I was doing right then. It was not believing that Christ had forgiven me. It was not believing His Word when it says I was washed in His blood. My greatest sin was believing I wasn’t enough, that I had to become righteous through my own works.
The truth is, sin is a cunning beast. It’s a spirit that clings, and its desire is to fight. That’s what I kept doing. Living righteous was more important to me than my relationship with Christ. Fighting to become holy only tightened its grip around my throat.
The sad thing is, we’re always placing the standard of holy living above living in Jesus. When people first come to Christ, they’re commanded to take hold of a standard no one could possibly reach. I myself feared I’d never reach it…. and I never did in my own power. But it’s become all too easy to write off someone because of what they did in the past. In that way, I suppose the sin of unbelief has a bigger place in our hearts than we believe.
So I’d like to encourage you today. The sins you’ve done in the past are forgiven and forgotten. We’re all the same. We’re a family who lives in the hands of God. He’s a home that always welcomes, flaws and all, because washing our hearts is something He dearly treasures.
Our Certain Joy 