When I fail and
fall
Did you notice I
said “when,” not “if?” Scripture says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God." (Romans 3:23, NIV) Great
heroes of the Bible fail! Abraham, the
father of the faithful, lied about Sarah’s identity to save his own skin.
David, the man who loved God wholeheartedly, saw Bathsheba, another man’s wife,
and chose adultery and proxy murder. Peter swore he did not know Jesus when he
felt threatened. Later on, he compromised
his Christian conviction about God’s acceptance of all people and exercised
prejudice against the Gentile believers.
My theme today is
not to provide an excuse for indulging our sinful natures. I write to encourage
renewal and hope. The lie persists both inside of us and in the Christian
church that failure makes us unacceptable to God, unworthy of His service. Jesus’ interaction with Peter on the shore of
Galilee says otherwise. Peter was so
demoralized by his denial of the Lord that he went back to fishing. One morning, after a night of fruitless
effort, the resurrected Lord came to the beach.
He did not berate Peter. He
restored him – with confrontation, confession, and commission! "After breakfast Jesus asked Simon
Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter
replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. Jesus
repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter
said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A third
time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that
Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You
know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep." (John
21:15-17, NLT) Three denials, three
affirmations!
When we fail and
fall, God offers forgiveness and restoration. His grace is free, but it is not
cheap. He will not sweep our sins under the rug, allowing us to just forget
about them. He wants us to learn, to
grow, to become stronger. The Lord sent Nathan to confront David. After rousing the king’s anger over an
injustice, the prophet pointed at the king and said, “You are that man!” The powerful prayer of repentance that David
prayed is recorded for us in the 51st Psalm. He found forgiveness, but the consequences of
his sin rippled through his extended family for the next 40 years.
The greater test
of a Christian is not that he lives a flawless life but that he chooses to
receive God’s grace and press on to become whole again. Paul might have spent his life after meeting
Christ in seclusion, full of regret for his persecution of the Church. Instead,
he accepted the forgiveness of the Lord and help of Barnabas and gave us half
of our New Testament by the inspiration of the Spirit! I wonder if he was
remembering who he had been before Christ’s love when he wrote the great text
that declares that ‘there is no condemnation for those who in Christ? Here is how The Message puts it: "With
the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who
enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a
continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of
life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing
you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."
(Romans 8:1-2, The Message) "Obsession
with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into
the open, into a spacious, free life." (Romans 8:6, The Message) "If
God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking
more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this
invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re
talking about." (Romans 8:8-9, The Message)
Have you failed?
Does some sin haunt you, fill you with regret, make you feel shame? I am sorry, and I know how you feel. But, I will not leave you there, letting you
soak in self-pity.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18, NIV)
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18, NIV)
"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me
from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before
me." (Psalm 51:2-3,
NIV)
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John
1:8-9, NKJV)
Kneel, listen,
confess, turn, stand, go!
________________
Jesus, what a Friend for sinners;
Jesus, Lover of my soul.
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Jesus, what a Strength in weakness;
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He my Strength, my vict'ry wins.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving;
He is with me to the end.
John Wilbur
Chapman | Rowland Hugh Prichard
© Words: Public
Domain
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