God is so merciful and His grace is unending. We all know the things we should do, but in practice few of us consistently succeed. We go through seasons of growth, but then there are those times when it seems all we can do is mess up. We could spend the majority of our days living in guilt, discouraged that we have missed the mark again. God rejects that idea. He sent His Son to free us from guilt and to remove all of our sins. Walking in the footsteps of Jesus gives us never ending opportunities to start again.
I struggle to comprehend the eternal grace of God. I am more prone to beat myself up over missed opportunities or yielding to some sin when I clearly know better. Every time I fall I am gripped with incredible remorse. I picture myself spitting in the face of Jesus or physically turning my back on Him in an hour of need. In my heart I know this is what our sin feels like to Christ. Yet He never holds any of it against me. I reject Him and He gently cradles my head or embraces me in a hug.
Who does that? Who forgives and actually forgets? Only God does that. When He looks at us, He only sees Jesus. It’s practically a cliché to say we are children of God, but that’s how He sees us. He doesn’t see our ugly sin, our rebelliousness, or our failures. He only sees His child. I can’t really fathom that depth of love. I don’t have the faculties to practice such unrelenting mercy and grace. It should move us to tears when we realize the immense outpouring of love our Savior has for us. Somehow we mostly just take all this for granted.
Living in defeat is not an option for a disciple. As soon as we stumble, Christ is already helping to dust us off. There is no time to stay huddled on the ground, wallowing in our sorrow and despair. Disciples are warriors. Every day there is spiritual warfare being waged all around us. We are on the side of the King and have dedicated our lives to seeing His Heavenly Kingdom become reality here in the physical realm. There is no time for rest, nothing to be gained by inaction.
Jesus is always beckoning us to come, to move forward. He is not interested in our past, only our right now. It doesn’t matter what you did five minutes ago, five days ago, or even five years ago. He only cares about what you are doing right now. If you feel badly about your sin, that’s good; it shows true repentance. Tell Him you’re sorry and get back in the game. There are no bonus points given for the amount of time you spend swimming in your guilt; move on. Following Jesus is a lifelong endeavor, not a single elimination event. He loves you. He forgives you. You’re not damaged goods in His eyes. You’re all right!