Here is a big statement that we all know but rarely hear: Christians sin.

Unfortunately, in a lot of churches and religious programming, the word “sin” is not mentioned. It makes many believers nervous. “Don’t talk about sin,” they say. “People don’t like to be confronted and have to change anything in their lives.”

That’s not the Christianity of the Bible.

In fact, the reason Jesus came was to save us. From what? Sin. That’s what 1 John 1:8 tells us: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (NIV). And that was written to Christians! So let’s be real. If we claim to have no sin, we’re deceiving ourselves.

So what happens when we sin?

Sin causes distance between us and God. It’s like the weather in Florida: The clouds roll in, and the sky gets dark. The sun is still there—it’s just covered. That’s what happens when we sin. God is still there, but our sins have come between us and Him.

Christians make two dangerous excuses about sin.

One is “Sin doesn’t matter.” Someone once said to me, “Listen, God loves me, okay? He wants me to be happy, right? That sin makes me happy. Thus, He approves of my sin.” Ooh, that’s twisted. That’s using the grace of God in a very bad way.

The other excuse we use is “I know what I did was wrong, but you don’t know the pressure I’m under. Do you know how I was raised and what happened to me?”

What a morbid way of living—to be walking in darkness while we’ve been called to live in the light!

We should never take sin lightly. So what do we do when we fail?

The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NIV). To confess our sins means to get alone with God and agree with Him. When we do something wrong, we should go to God and say, “Lord, I agree with You, and I disagree with my actions. You are right. I am wrong. Forgive me for my sin. I confess it.”

Boom! When we confess our sin, God’s mercy flows to us. We’re brought back into fellowship with Him.

Distance from God doesn’t mean we lose our salvation. Even when we sin, we’re still in the family of God. It’s like when your child is naughty. If he or she comes to you and says, “Daddy, Mommy, I’m so sorry,” you don’t respond, “No! Get out of here. You’re punished for the next four years!” A good parent is quick to say, “That’s okay. Come on, let me hug you.” That’s the way God is with us as believers.

Now God does discipline us. David said, “When I refused to confess my sin, . . . your hand of discipline was heavy on me” (Psalm 32:3–4, NLT). And don’t forget that verse in Hebrews, “The Lord disciplines those he loves” (Hebrews 12:6, NLT). But God disciplines us, not to hurt us, but to help us and wake us up!

David continued, “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (Psalm 32:5, NLT). David was instantaneously forgiven and relieved!

So here’s our encouragement today: let’s want to be like Jesus every day. When we break down—and we will—we can’t make light of it. But we can’t give up on life and on God either. We can just go to the Lord like a child: “Lord, I messed up. I confess it to You. Forgive me. Restore my fellowship with You. I want to be close to You.” He will do it.

Prayer

Lord, You know when we mess up. Thank You for forgiving us when we confess our sins to You. Restore our fellowship with You. We want to be close to You today. Amen.

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