It is something we just don't talk about in polite company. Something to hide and put deep in the back of the closet. We certainly don't preach about it from the pulpits or teach our kids about, because, well...it just doesn't happen!
I am not talking about the taboo, tabloid, and titillating stuff here. I am talking about a solid, honest to goodness, Bible believing Christian who finds themselves in the middle of a serious sin. Maybe it is ongoing, and maybe it is a one time thing, or maybe it was a slow creep of incremental events.
Maybe you had an affair. Maybe you had a secret craving for the bottle that became alcoholism. Maybe you stole some money. Maybe you betrayed a friend. Maybe worse. Maybe much worse. Maybe you just lied and then chose to sweep it away to the recesses of your mind. What if all it is is a tendency to gossip or using foul language?
Then there is that day. That horrible moment when God shows you the reality of what you have done. You are standing in line, or wake up from a dream. Maybe you are at work or at church and all of a sudden it hits you, as if you had no idea it was even going on, and as a brand new revelation, how utterly sinful this is and how utterly you have failed. Either way, one day you wake up and realize, you have become *that* person. That person you hated, judged so harshly, and were so certain you would never be. That person.
What now? Oh dear Lord God Almighty, what now? Oh the pain of that failure!
There are two kinds of pain from sin. The first one is pain that leads to repentance.
2 Cor 7:9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern,what readiness to see justice done.
What happens then? What happens after we repent and turn away from the sin? God says that He remembers our sin no more. It is completely wiped clean as if it never happened. But that does not remove the consequences of our actions here on earth. You can't undo an affair, or take back the betrayal, or unsteal the money. Restitution is an important part of repentance but will never take the place of the forgiveness and free gift of grace Jesus.
The second kind of pain is the pain we inflict on ourselves. The need to punish ourselves. Guilt carried as a flag of sorrow and self recrimination. Satan loves nothing more than to convince you that you are not worthy now of the love of God, and never were.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
He is more than happy to use the truth to lie to you even!
We sometimes feel like the crime is so great and the pain we have caused so enormous that we must be punished, and nothing less than that will do.
2 Cor 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
This self sabotaging behavior is that death. We search out opportunities to inflict pain on ourselves. Some consequences are a result of the sin itself. An affair carries with it the possible loss of the marriage or relationship. It might carry the possibility of an STD or unintended pregnancy. Those consequences are different than those we inflict on ourselves by having such a guilty conscience that we pick a fight with our spouse in order to assuage the guilt for example, or other types of self sabotaging behavior. We sabotage relationships, or jobs. We create situations to cause sickness or become anti social and etc. All of the feelings of deep remorse can set us up for consequences that would not have happened without our unwitting help.
How do you know the difference?
A Godly sorrow leads to repentance. It does not remove consequences, but it does lead you to your knees and to the cross. It leads to making it right the best you can, and then accepting forgiveness from God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Isaiah 43:25 “I, I am the one who blots out your transgression for my own sake, and I‘ll remember your sins no more.
Hebrews 8:12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
A Godly sorrow always leads to healing, hope and a new beginning. If you are carrying guilt and shame for a sin you have been forgiven for, it is time to let it go. You have freedom and the grace of Jesus Christ. It leads to the joy of knowing that you are forgiven and clean.
Hebrews 10: 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Be free of the sin that bound you! Let it go! Allow the cleansing of the Lord to give you peace and the joy that comes from the sure knowledge that you are fully forgiven. There is no greater joy than that.
