When it comes to making poor choices or even just missing the mark, sometimes we can be harder on ourselves than we ought to be.
Just the other day I drove past a homeless individual that was sitting right across the street from a fast food restaurant. Often, I see this situation as an opportunity to help someone in need by offering a meal. I have actually asked God to place people in my path that I can help. You know what? I didn’t feel like helping. I wanted to get where I had to go. I had plenty of time, plenty of money. I just didn’t feel like stopping to offer help to him. Thoughts were racing through my mind in the moments after. “What if that was you on the street. What if he was hungry? You have plenty of money to be able to help him.” While I would not call this a mistake per se I would categorize it as a missed opportunity to share the Love of God with another human being. The missed opportunity made me feel guilt and shame and I was prepared to condemn myself for lack of action, lack of compassion.
I didn’t feel great that I could have offered to help and did not. But I had to remind myself that God loves me and is not seeking to condemn me for not following through on an opportunity to help someone in need.
It is very easy for us to feel guilty about something when our human-ness can contribute to missing the mark. Laziness, complacency, bitterness, spitefulness, on and on. As our hearts are postured towards God, we are more sensitive to how we show up in the world – in our actions and in-actions. Our convictions about the world around us and how we interact with them can influence our mood, our state of mind and our overall disposition.
It is very easy for us to feel guilty about something when our human-ness can contribute to missing the mark.
When we find ourselves ruminating about our personal convictions with our culture and world, we should also consider the biblical doctrines that can guide us. Here are a few.
God is Love and does not seek to condemn us for our actions. His Son Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death.
We should seek to learn about our decisions that do not honor God, asking Him not only for forgiveness, but also for wisdom and guidance.
God has the ability to turn all things, including undesirable outcomes from sinfulness into good. God can use your misstep to help you to grow in wisdom, understanding, discernment and even obedience.
God has promised that if we ask for forgiveness, he will forgive. It can be difficult to believe this, especially if we feel as though we would not forgive ourselves or others. God forgives those who seek Him and ask for forgiveness.
When we fall into sin, let us not wallow in despair but stand back up, asking for God’s forgiveness and to hold us in Love as we keep moving forward. Let us ask Him to keep leading and guiding our steps.
We are human and therefore we are bound to make mistakes, each and every one of us. If we profess to others that we are mistake free, we are in a way denying our need for God’s unbounding Love, forgiveness and grace.
When we do make a poor decision that harms another, let us learn from it. Let us ask for forgiveness from the individual and turn away from the temptation to make the decision again. We can ask God to strengthen us to resist temptation for behaviors that we know do not honor Him.
In this message we have talked about the fact that we are all human and all fall short at times. That even so, God still loves each and every one of us more than we can possibly fathom or imagine. I want to encourage you to consider God’s promise to you – that when you ask Him for forgiveness that He will forgive you. His promise that He will love you and that He will help to lift you up in times that you may fall. Without judgment. Without condemnation. With love, grace and compassion.
I want you to consider how you too can be a beacon of light and love to someone in your life that has made mistakes. I also want to invite you to leave a comment if you have done something in the past week that you plan to ask God to forgive, to help you do better next time.
Bless you
Steve McDonald
