Go and Sin no More

Throughout my Christian walk, I have desired to continually improve in my relationship with Christ. I want to read more of my Bible, I want to pray more, I want to hear him speak more, I want to tell more people about him, but most of all, I want to quit sinning. I so desire for sinning to cease. I am sick of it, I feel ashamed and disgusting when I do. Having to crawl to my Lord with filth all over me and ask for cleansing over and over again is not my favorite thing to do. It's humiliating and it makes me feel worthless. Do you know what I'm talking about? There are even times when I am so distressed over my own sin that I can't express it in my own words and I simply cry to God "Have mercy!" There are times when my mistakes have had such terrible repercussions that I can't imagine how God would ever forgive me. Maybe you get these same feelings when you sin; feelings of hopelessness, sadness, humility, and shame.

I'm about to tell you something that might surprise you. In a sense, it is a very good thing that you are getting these feelings. In fact, if you don't, be sure to examine yourself as to whether you are truly a Child of God.

Everyone is born a sinner. There is no escaping that, for "all have fallen short of the glory of God". But what do you feel when you sin? If you have become numb, you better be fearful. The Bible says that if you go on sinning without care, God will give you up to the sinful passions of your heart. Numbness to sin (or not caring about whether you sin or not) should terrify you. It does me. There should always be some kind of remorse for what you have done. Peter knew that Jesus had died for his sins, but he still wept when he denied his Lord. How can you not mourn for your Lord after you sin, knowing that your very action has hung him on that cross to die? How can you not feel some sort of sadness for the one who you have crucified but was so full of forgiveness that he forgave you?

Having made it known that some sense of guilt should be present after sin, I also must make another point so that we don't all become extremists with poor biblical views. Let's look at Romans 7:

"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dew ells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." - Romans 7:15-20

There is good news too. Although we feel guilt for what we have done, realize it is not even you who do it. Amazing, huh? If your mind does not like sin, does not desire it, does not want to do it, and even hates it, then it is not you who do it. This is however not an excuse to go about sinning. As you may have noticed, one of the requirements for the view that it is no longer you sinning is that you do hate sin and you don't want to do it. So there is no possible way to use this as an excuse to sin because the moment you do is the same moment you now desire to sin, and therefore have abandoned this view.

Strive to not sin. Desire that God may be gracious upon you to "not lead you into temptation but deliver you from evil". Always practice self-discipline and do what you can to avoid temptation, no matter how radical. But when you fall, because you will, come to God, plead, ask that he may have mercy upon your depraved soul, and turn away from your sin. Then, as Jesus has said, "go and sin no more" -- well, try.