Weight Lifted?
You may recall that last week I shared about a sinful response I had to something that happened in the gym I work out in. I want to thank those of you who replied in a gracious and encouraging manner. Although I struggled about sending that e-mail, I’m now glad that I did because the feedback I received told me that others were blessed by what I shared. Well this week I would like to share “part two” with you of that story.
I resolved early in the week that I was going to “make things right” with what I had done so I went to the weight room and found things pretty much the way I had left them. It was evident that my spiteful actions had been “successful” in that the weights were still piled under the weight sled as I had left them (I’m sure because no one wanted to trouble themselves by getting down on their knees and lifting out the heavy dumbbells). I then proceeded to lift out the dumbbells and place them in accessible areas for people to use. I also went around cleaning up other weights that people had left around and straightened up the gym. When I was done I had left the gym in a much better condition than how I found it. The funny thing is that even though I “made things right” I noticed that I didn’t really feel any better about my actions from the week before. You would think that as I was putting things away and straightening things up that I would feel this relief over my previous actions but that is not the way things worked out.
I have noticed that my experience with the weights is similar to the experience I and many people have with their own sins. When we see our sin for what it is, we regret it and confess it and determine in God’s strength to live better before Him but we end up still feeling guilty for what we have done. This is true even though God has assured us that:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
— 1 John 1:9
And…
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”
— Isaiah 1:18
And . . .
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
— Psalm 103: 11-12
And lastly…
“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and will remember their sins no more”
– Hebrews 8:12
So what is going on with the guilt we feel even when we have these blessed assurances? In order to answer that question, we have to consider what is being promised and who is doing the forgetting. What is being promised in these passages is that our sins will be forgiven and “removed” from us and that
God
will remember them no more (not us….). Nowhere in scripture have I seen the promise that we will forget the sins we have committed or even that we are promised to feel guilt free over what we have done . . . even if it was decades ago. However, I think we can learn something from the Apostle Paul who said,
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 3:12-14
You may recall that Paul shared this after recounting a time in his life where he was self-righteous before God and living in ways that were opposed to Him. Certainly Paul was not one to make light of his sin as he once called himself “The Chief of sinners” but here we find Paul saying that he is making a point of “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead”. Hmmm, . . .what is Paul doing here? May I suggest that Paul has found a way to marry God’s promises of forgiveness with an ordering of his priorities? Paul knows that his sins are forgiven. He also knows that he (Paul) has not forgotten about them. However, he sees that he has a choice. He can either ruminate about all of his sins and be weighed down by them, perhaps to the point of being ineffective in his ministry, or he can “strain” toward living the most God glorifying life that he can. In this is a lesson for us. Please don’t think that I am asking anyone to make light of their sins, or just forget about the wrongs they have done because I believe God can use the regret we feel over our sins to call us to holiness, but we must be careful that we don’t languish in our sins, subjecting ourselves to forty-lashes over sins God has forgiven.
So…going back to the weight room…with each weight that I put away, I found no reprieve from the guilt I was feeling for placing them where I did in spite. But with this sin, as with the others I have committed, God has called me to confess it and seek his forgiveness which he promises to give, and then to strain toward what is ahead, which is to live faithfully before God.
How about you? Are you carrying around some heavy weight that you have tried to “put back”. Maybe you have done all you can to “make things right” and now you too need to strain toward what is ahead. God has forgiven you and in view of His great mercy, you are called to put your energies into offering yourself as a living sacrifice.
To God be the Glory,
Rob
Feb 27, 2016