Have We Lost Our Grief over Sin?
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I was reading the Psalms recently and there was a reaction by David that leaped off the page at me. His reaction was over his sin, and when I read it, I thought about how we view sin in our lives. I know how we often view sin in other people’s lives, many times being quick to highlight it. My concern is not about sin found in other people, but for us to consider what happens when we sin in our own lives. Listen to these profound words of David found in Psalm 38:
Could it be that part of David’s anguish and grief over his sin was because he knew God and loved him? I think so. After all, the Bible called him a man after God’s own heart. When you love God, then you know how much sin hurts him and if you love the Lord, why would you want to hurt him?
I have a daughter and I can see the disappointment that wells up in her eyes when she does something that she feels lets us down. She is devastated over it. For those of us who claim to love Jesus, we simply cannot continue to have casual attitudes towards sin in our lives. Again, I am not saying we become judges of others; I am saying we become judges of ourselves.
2. Because You Know Him
If you claim to know God, then sin cannot be an ongoing part of your life. This verse is not saying you will never sin. This verse is saying you don’t live to sin or for sin. When you do sin, your response becomes like David, one of grief and a call to repentance. This happens because you know him and are in fellowship with him. When that fellowship is broken, you quickly seek to repent and restore it.
3. Because His Life Is in You
Since God’s life is in you, in the person of the Holy Spirit, and you have been born of God, this should change your attitude toward sin. If your attitudes towards sin are growing lukewarm, then maybe you need more of God’s Spirit working in your life. Remember, he has not changed, nor has his attitude toward sin. If yours has, then we know where the problem lies.
This article is not about judgment or condemnation. This article is really about a call to holiness. We must be holy because God is holy. For those who don’t know what that means, holiness is not a state of perfection. Holiness is when you are set apart for God’s use. When we are walking in holiness, we see sin the way God sees it and we see people the way God sees them.
I can’t say where, when, or how the church got off course, but the remedy is simple. Return to your first love. It’s time we rekindle that love for Jesus we had when we first got saved, that passion that sought to please him in every area of our lives. When we get back to that place, then our attitudes towards sin will change. Not only will we turn away from it, but we will grieve over it should we fall into it.
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