What do you do after a sinful mistake? How do you move on? As Christians, when you fall into sin, it’s important to get back up and move forward. Never allow your sins to stop you from continuing your growth in Christ. To do so is a greater affront to God than the sin itself. How do you get past a sinful mistake? The worst thing to do it nothing. Find out why. Click To Tweet
Getting Past a Sinful Mistake
How should you handle moments of sin or failure, when you’ve damaged your Christian reputation in the eyes of friends and family or dishonored God with your actions?
Hate The Sin
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Hate the sin, not the sinner.” In essence, what that means is that you shouldn’t confuse your behavior with your identity. Once you start to identify as the sin, you’re more likely to repeat the bad behavior, in the belief that you are a sinner. Not true. You are a Christian that has sinned and must repent and try harder. The voice telling you that you are a sinner is not God’s voice.
Don’t Speak For God
Don’t project your own thoughts or beliefs onto God and assume you know what He’s thinking. God knew you would sin. It’s no surprise to Him. That’s why he made forgiveness available for you in Christ. Although sin doesn’t make him happy, it doesn’t make him mad at you. Using His own words from the Bible, He wants you to repent and return to Him.
Repent
To truly repent takes longer than a quick prayer or meeting with your pastor. Repentance literally means ‘to change your mind’ and is not something that you just do in one second and call it done. Repentance is a process that continues for a whole lifetime. It requires surrounding yourself with His word, meditating on it, praying, fasting and enveloping yourself in Him.
Avoid the Shame Spiral
Satan delights in your moments of weakness and sin, but also in the spiritual inactivity that sometimes accompanies remorse. When you’ve made a mistake or engaged in sinful behavior, you should be humbled. But do not multiply the damage by retreating into silence and shame. You are ambassadors of Christ, and you must move forward to achieve forgiveness and peace.
Are you ready to move on? Join us this Sunday in Oak Ridge North and bask in the Word of God and His unending forgiveness.
