After the Fall
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ––1 John 1:9, NLT
We’ve all been in at least one of these scenarios. The morning after a horrible argument with your spouse or friend where unfortunate words were spoken in the heat of the moment. That feeling of guilt and shame for a little too much “liquid joy,” or a moment of weakness that led us to “that website” when no one was around.
Here’s the dilemma that I see a lot of God’s men dealing with. The thinking goes like this: “I know that we are to be perfect just as Jesus is perfect, but of course, none of us are—it’s a goal; a destination to aim for. But when I sin, I’m strongly reminded of how far away I am from Jesus’ perfection. It’s really discouraging.”
From the moment we exit the womb, we are immersed in a culture that is radically transactional rather than relational. But the crux of the matter is that God is first and foremost, relational. I think it’s why so many of us struggle with the concept of unconditional acceptance without performance. We don’t see it in our culture (very often), and we were lucky if we had even one parent who practiced that type of unconditional acceptance.
But that’s the answer to getting back up after we fall (and we will all fall again): We endeavor to consciously and consistently focus on God’s unconditional nature—His acceptance of us with only a period after it. There’s no comma, semi-colon, ellipsis, or “but” after He says, “I love you, my child.”
Living as a reality-based man of God means we don’t quit when we fall. We seek help for sins that are addictive (porn, alcohol, opioids, food, money, etc.), and we ferociously attack the “shame-sin” cycle that keeps so many of us blocked off from God’s full destiny for us. Medicating ourselves for our sins just leads to increasing quantities of medication, right?
The enemy is so predictable—but also very powerful. How assuring to be reminded that the power in us is greater than the power that is in the world. It’s like waking up from a nightmare and realizing that we are on the winning side.
The next time you stumble or fall, get back up and enter back into relational connection with God as swiftly as you can. He hasn’t gone anywhere—it’s us who back away.
Father, thank You for the fact that You cast my sins as far as the east is from the west.