Yes, I get discouraged over the sin in my life, I am sure that we all do at some point. If some sin like appetite for example has been ingrained in us since childhood, it is going to be a battle to overcome. Ask me. That has been my greatest battle, I love to cook and I love to eat and that's the way it goes with every sin. We love it or we wouldn't do it, isn't that right?
We have to learn to hate sin of any sort, but especially those that haunt us personally. If we learn to hate it we probably won't do it, it is pretty hard to do something that we hate to do. Think about it, if there is a certain task that you hate to do, you put it off until the very last minute before you tackle it and sometimes don't tackle it.
The best way to learn to hate sin is to literally see what it did to the Son of God hanging on the cross and the suffering He went through to give us the victory that He had over sin. If I could just keep that on my mind all the time, it would be a lot easier to let it go.
There are some sins that you can't hide, if you are an overeater you gain weight, if you smoke, you smell like a cigarette, if you speed, you get a ticket, if you drink you do strange things but there are sins that you can hide and think no one sees them or knows about them.
King David was one of those when he saw a woman bathing on her roof top and ended up committing adultery and then to cover that sin he had her husband killed in battle. But God sees everything and He saw that and sent the prophet to rebuke David and told him the child that was conceived would die. David was truly sorry, read Psalms 51. Sometimes I pray this prayer I feel so bad over my mistakes and discouragement. You can do that too, it is a wonderful prayer of confession and repentance.
Sometimes like David, we have to pay miserably for what we have done and the mistakes we have made, and like David we need to confess them and repent of them in true heartfelt sorrow.
David is not the only one who had to pay for his sin. I think of Moses just before entering the promised land the children of Israel were complaining about having no water and his impatience when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it, caused him to have to lay down his life before going over Jordan. Deuteromony 32:48-52. I am sure that Moses was disappointed that he didn't get to lead the people into the promised land but had to turn the leadership over to Joshua. That was a pretty severe price to pay for one sin, but when God tells us something is sin, we need to listen and with heartfelt prayer, give it to Him and leave it there, so many times we don't leave it there, we take it up again, and the battle starts all over. I believe that is where I fail the most and that is, I don't leave it there, I lay it down and then take it up again to start all over with the same struggle.
I told you these studies were for me, this was a good one and I needed it, did you? I hope with all my heart it has helped you too. I pray that I will lay them down at His feet and truly leave them there and save all this discouragement over sins and mistakes that hurt us so much. Will you join me? Grandma Joan
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