Everybody Makes Mistakes. Or Do They?

Let’s talk about David; we can say that he was blessed and highly favored by God. He was anointed king over his older and more physically imposing brothers, he killed a lion and a bear, he stood up to and killed a giant, he was a king, he wrote some of the most beautiful, prayerful and adoring words about God, he is mentioned in the list of heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 and got the amazing recommendation of being called a man after God’s heart in 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22.  But you remember what happened to David in 2Samuel 11?

David neglected his duty, lusted after a woman, committed adultery, tried to cover what he did and when that didn’t work he had a man killed. He went on with his life maybe thinking ‘these things happen’ or ‘I had no choice’ or ‘it didn’t start well but it’s ended well’ or maybe he gave it no thought at all until Nathan the prophet came to him and he realized what he had done and said ‘I have made a mistake’. N0, he said, “…I have sinned against the Lord.” II Samuel 12:13.  He said it again in Psalm 51:3- 4a, “For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight”.

David, when he had his sin pointed out to him, did not downplay it or call his sin a misstep or say children of God don’t sin but only make mistakes. In fact, it was because he was a child of God that he was able to recognize his sin and be grieved by it. So, why is it that you refuse to call your sin what it is? You instead refer to your sins as mistakes or missteps; anything but what it really is- disobeying God. Why do you find it difficult to call your sin by its true name and instead downplay it or accept it as part of your personality? Might it be because you think you would not be a true child of God if you accept that you still sin? Or worse still, you don’t see that sin really dishonors God, you don’t see what David called evil- he said transgression and sin- whether it is a ‘big’ sin or a ‘small’ sin, if you are doing something contrary to the law of God you are rebelling against him.

As Christians  God has “…blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him (Ephesians 1:3-9).

We can say we are blessed and favored by God; we have been forgiven much so we ought to love much. What is the sure way to show that you love God?  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). You may look at your life and say that you haven’t killed anyone or committed adultery like David did but remember what the Lord Jesus said about anger being as bad as murder (Matt 5:21-22) and lustful looks as bad as adultery (Matt 5:27-28). What about all the other aspects of the old man that we are asked to put off that we still live with and excuse as part of our character?  ^“But now you also put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices”, Colossians 3:8-9. Refusing to fight these sins and embracing them as a part of our fabric is rebellion and rebellion is sin against God, (I Samuel 15:23).

There is no room for excusing sin in our lives, not if we really are God’s children. Getting angry in traffic and thinking bad thoughts, saying abusive words, or making abusive gestures is sin. Presenting doctored receipts at the office is sin, gossip is sin, and spreading unconfirmed information about people as fact is sin. There is no such thing as a white lie- it is sin. There is only one sure thing to do, Repent! True repentance is what real children of God do, it is biblical.

For as long as we are in this world we will be fighting with sin; ignoring this fact, living like it is not true is very dangerous for a believer. “This moan, “Wretched man that I am,” expresses the normal experience of the Christian, and any Christian who does not so moan is in an abnormal and unhealthy state spiritually. The man who does not utter this cry daily is either so out of communion with Christ, or so ignorant of the teaching of Scripture, or so deceived about his actual condition, that he knows not the corruptions of his own heart and the abject failure of his own lie.”

As long as we remain on earth we must strive against sin. When you sin, you must not just gloss over it; you must, like David, call it what it is and repent, pray and continue the fight because that’s what children of God do. As Christians, if we quarrel with what scripture says we are not submitting to Christ our Lord.