How do you handle your sin? Interestingly, sin is a word we barely mention. It rarely crosses our path. We much rather use the words of Hillary Clinton, “I made a mistake” than admit we committed this ferocious three-letter-word. Somehow it sounds so much tolerable to call it an oversight. A slip. Or a blunder.
We have many names for a sin, but God manages to see right through our plight.
We are Messy People
Sin gets in the way and mucks up our lives. We yell at our kids. Get frustrated with our spouse. Grumble about our circumstances. And the list goes on and on. Like the Apostle Paul, we say, “For I do not understand my actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). We do not know how to handle our sin.
Here lies our predicament. We are messy people living in a messed up world. It’s broken and we certainly cannot make sense of it all. We all have issues. Big issues. And in all honesty, we try to cover them up with sugar and spice and everything nice. Much like our ancestors Adam and Eve, we try to hide our sin behind fig leaves, which are too small and highly insufficient.
But we fall for the lie and continually attempt to do things on our own. Make no mistake, sin is always enticing. It makes big claims that life can be better. The grass is greener on the other side. The peace, happiness, and contentment that you so long for are right behind the next door. Our flesh is all about striving. It shouts the mantra, “Just do it and do it more.”
We are wired to try harder. Accomplishing the impossible makes us feel good. We like the feeling of being in control. We like marking things off of our “to-do” lists. However, an unsafe and unsettling dissonance occurs when we do not hit the mark. When we do not measure up. Or do not do what we want to do.
When We Fail, How Do We Handle Our Sin?
One of two things typically happens. We give ourselves a pep talk exhorting that our sin is no big deal. Everyone else is doing it. Go ahead and brush it under the rug and move on. Or, we give up. We determine the fight against our flesh is too hard. We’re a hopeless case. Rather than exposing ourselves to who we are, we live a superficial life. Hiding and disguising. Living in fear that someone may uncover our faults and leave our hearts open too wide.
Shame becomes our shadow. On our own, we struggle to reconcile our wounds and emotions. We resort to either flat-out rebellion or sugarcoated self-righteousness. In the end, both lead to death. Both tactics will fail.
There is a better way. Another option. What if you handle your sin and shame, allowing it to drive us to the feet of Jesus? If we willingly sat at His feet to learn from Him? And confessed that we are imperfect and need a Savior? What would happen then?