Have you ever tripped and stumbled into sin? What about
falling face first into sin? We all have experienced this in one way or
another. As imperfect beings, sin is inevitable—it will happen. There will be
times where we will stumble back into sin. Other times we will dive right into it, feeling like we've
landed flat on our faces. But no matter how we fall, we know that because of Jesus Christ we
can accept grace. His grace is so powerful that it literally covers a multitude
of sin (1 Peter 4:8).
Months ago, I wrote a post about accepting grace. Sometimes,
even after repentance, we still doubt by not forgiving ourselves. After Jesus picks us up from
the fall, we find it difficult to walk in grace. The beautiful thing about
walking in grace is that you walk as if you never even fell in the first place.
It’s like someone who tripped and broke their ankle, but five minutes later
they begin walking even better than they did before. His grace is THAT amazing.
But why don’t we accept this grace if it’s so amazing?
I too, would fall face first into sin, not knowing that I
really was falling into His arms of grace. I found it difficult to forgive
myself even after I knew God had forgiven me. I say this all the time, Satan’s biggest trick is NOT necessarily to get you to fall into sin. His biggest trick is to get you to stay down in
guilt. When we don’t forgive ourselves for the fall, we do not fully accept His
grace. So hours or days, sometimes even weeks go by and we are angry at
ourselves. And the feelings of unworthiness parade our minds. So instead of walking in grace, we tip-toe.
If Satan can get a Believer to stay down in guilt, he’s got
them right where he wants them. One of the most important aspects of the
Christian walk is worship. But how can you worship when you still feel
unworthy? Beloved, you can’t. When you no longer have a worship life, the strength to do HIS WILL also stops. For example, that person that needs to hear your poem about salvation will never hear it because you were too busy not forgiving yourself. This is exactly why the enemy tricks us into guilt. An important part of walking in grace is forgiving yourself. When we
don’t forgive ourselves, we are unknowingly saying, “I thought I was perfect like
Jesus, but I’m not.” That prideful statement is exactly what is keeping you
from truly walking in grace.
Believer, it doesn’t matter how many times you trip and
fall, you are simply falling into arms of grace. Today, forgive yourself. You
are an imperfect person that’s greatly loved by a perfect God. Every day, I
tell the Holy Spirit that I am weak and HE is strong. Constantly remind
yourself that you are weak and you aren’t perfect. First Corinthians 12:9 says
that God is the strongest when we are at our weakest point. When we remind
ourselves that we are nothing without God’s strength, forgiving ourselves
becomes easier because we knew we were weak in the first place. Beloved, God’s grace is enough for you. He has already forgiven you (1 John 2:9). But
do you believe it enough to forgive yourself? Don’t focus more on the fall than
you do getting back up—accept grace and walk in it.
