"Guilt, a chain around the neck, woe upon a guilty soul, a soul so vexed, so lost, so hurt and broken that the key on the floor to release the chain, will remain untouched.
Guilt, a paralytic beyond measure, it's power lies not in refusing you your will, but rather, in breaking it.
Guilt, the giant who lifts not a finger, he has only to whisper, what he utters in your ear seems just, seems true, accusations with but a single thread of truth wrapped in a web of lies.
Guilt, you won't defeat him alone, but his victory is secure and made whole when you are too full of him to cry out to the One Who can defeat him."
Guilt can make you feel like the worst human who ever lived, it seems real because the sin, failures and mistakes you have guilt over are real, but there is more to who we are than sin and shame.
"Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to
This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved."
You Are More by Tenth Avenue North
Sin may separate you from God, but that wall is only one confession away from falling. And no matter what nothing will ever change the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation, nothing can take that from you. Nothing. Sin, shame, guilt, regret and any weakness, they cannot in any way keep you from Christ, it won't ever keep you from seeking and doing God's will.
"You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade."
You Are More by Tenth Avenue North
The failures of you are not you, they are the flesh still doing what flesh does. Disobeying God. But God understands, He knows we aren't perfect.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
This life is not about us becoming more like Christ, it's not about that verse becoming more true, that verse couldn't be more true than it was the first moment you trusted Christ. Christ-likeness is one of the things that will happen over time if we follow His teachings, but the main reason we were created is not the purpose of growing into His image (though that is what God wishes for us). We were made in His image to bring Him glory.
One of the profound mysteries of the gospel is that broken souls are made new, not to become sufficient, but rather the opposite, to become more aware of our need for dependence upon the One Who our souls were designed to depend on. God isn't counting on us to do His work perfectly and certainly not alone, the perfect work has already been done, we weren't designed with the intention of becoming sufficient from God, even before the fall.
We have been given the perfect righteousness of Christ. Which does not in way shape, form or idea of any kind mean that we have to live up to how He lived and certainly not live His life without Him to help us. But we are called to embody the life of Christ and be like Him and be conformed into His image right? And doesn't that look like less sin, fewer mistakes and the putting off of fear? After all Christ was perfect.
No, one of the profound mysteries of the gospel is not that broken souls become perfect or like Him by depending totally and perfectly upon Him. But the fact that while God does require perfection (or you are owed the wages of sin) He views you as perfect in Christ. But what exactly does that mean? I'm perfect in Christ but I'm still far, far away from perfect.
We can't be perfect because the frail robe of humanity has been broken by sin, so to think that you can change a human sin nature into something perfectly Christlike is flawed. Our flesh (our earthly bodies) might be doomed to die until Christ raises them, we might still sin in this flesh until that time, but the life of Christ is inside us. We don't have to, we aren't even supposed to be perfect in this life because of the fact that our flesh is flawed, by ourselves we can do nothing even if what we want is to be like Christ. So we will still sin, but we don't have to live up to "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" by having nothing but the new life, or perfection, we will have to wait on having no sin at all within us. New life in Christ doesn't mean you have to live up to His life, but that you do your humanly best to embody His life with His help. It is Christ who lives perfectly, so we are expected to trust Him, by growing, by letting go of sin, by doing the small things, not everything all at once. You have to be patient, even though with your sin and flaws it might seem to make more sense if it were instantaneous, fight the battles against sin God wants you to, you don't have to take it all on at once. And don't forget that we are works in progress, so as long as you follow God and seek Him in all your ways, you won't miss anything He wants you to do. Trust me, He is very good at making your sin known to you.
Right now before Christ completely demolishes our sin nature the "new life" will not be free of sin, as the works in progress that we are the fact that we are even able to be Christlike at all is an incredible gift from God. It isn't about us becoming like Him anyway, it's about bringing glory to God, even if it means we are uncomfortable, even if that lack of comfort is due to sin.
It is right to not want to sin, it is right to want to move on from said sin, but sin and insufficiency are what push us closer to Christ. Without that never ending need for grace we would simply live perfect little lives and forget that it was all about God in the first place. We aren't supposed to simply change the way we live, we are supposed to let Christ live through us, we don't have to do anything, anything at all, it is Christ who will accomplish, Christ who is at work. Without Him there is no mission, so all we have to do is hold on tight to Him, let Him take the lead, let Him work through us and on us. If you will open your heart to Him and let Him guide you, He will show you the way, He will show you what you need to work on, what you need to do, if you fix your eyes on Christ and stop worrying about your own comfort and desires. Everything will work out.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
The good, the bad and the ugly, the joys of life and the sin. The good times and hard times all work together for the good of those who are in Christ. In Christ every need is taken care of and no matter what our souls have been redeemed and we have Christ's righteousness before God.
Thanks for reading,
Zachary
Guilt, a paralytic beyond measure, it's power lies not in refusing you your will, but rather, in breaking it.
Guilt, the giant who lifts not a finger, he has only to whisper, what he utters in your ear seems just, seems true, accusations with but a single thread of truth wrapped in a web of lies.
Guilt, you won't defeat him alone, but his victory is secure and made whole when you are too full of him to cry out to the One Who can defeat him."
Guilt can make you feel like the worst human who ever lived, it seems real because the sin, failures and mistakes you have guilt over are real, but there is more to who we are than sin and shame.
"Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to
This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved."
You Are More by Tenth Avenue North
Sin may separate you from God, but that wall is only one confession away from falling. And no matter what nothing will ever change the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation, nothing can take that from you. Nothing. Sin, shame, guilt, regret and any weakness, they cannot in any way keep you from Christ, it won't ever keep you from seeking and doing God's will.
"You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade."
You Are More by Tenth Avenue North
The failures of you are not you, they are the flesh still doing what flesh does. Disobeying God. But God understands, He knows we aren't perfect.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
This life is not about us becoming more like Christ, it's not about that verse becoming more true, that verse couldn't be more true than it was the first moment you trusted Christ. Christ-likeness is one of the things that will happen over time if we follow His teachings, but the main reason we were created is not the purpose of growing into His image (though that is what God wishes for us). We were made in His image to bring Him glory.
One of the profound mysteries of the gospel is that broken souls are made new, not to become sufficient, but rather the opposite, to become more aware of our need for dependence upon the One Who our souls were designed to depend on. God isn't counting on us to do His work perfectly and certainly not alone, the perfect work has already been done, we weren't designed with the intention of becoming sufficient from God, even before the fall.
We have been given the perfect righteousness of Christ. Which does not in way shape, form or idea of any kind mean that we have to live up to how He lived and certainly not live His life without Him to help us. But we are called to embody the life of Christ and be like Him and be conformed into His image right? And doesn't that look like less sin, fewer mistakes and the putting off of fear? After all Christ was perfect.
No, one of the profound mysteries of the gospel is not that broken souls become perfect or like Him by depending totally and perfectly upon Him. But the fact that while God does require perfection (or you are owed the wages of sin) He views you as perfect in Christ. But what exactly does that mean? I'm perfect in Christ but I'm still far, far away from perfect.
We can't be perfect because the frail robe of humanity has been broken by sin, so to think that you can change a human sin nature into something perfectly Christlike is flawed. Our flesh (our earthly bodies) might be doomed to die until Christ raises them, we might still sin in this flesh until that time, but the life of Christ is inside us. We don't have to, we aren't even supposed to be perfect in this life because of the fact that our flesh is flawed, by ourselves we can do nothing even if what we want is to be like Christ. So we will still sin, but we don't have to live up to "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" by having nothing but the new life, or perfection, we will have to wait on having no sin at all within us. New life in Christ doesn't mean you have to live up to His life, but that you do your humanly best to embody His life with His help. It is Christ who lives perfectly, so we are expected to trust Him, by growing, by letting go of sin, by doing the small things, not everything all at once. You have to be patient, even though with your sin and flaws it might seem to make more sense if it were instantaneous, fight the battles against sin God wants you to, you don't have to take it all on at once. And don't forget that we are works in progress, so as long as you follow God and seek Him in all your ways, you won't miss anything He wants you to do. Trust me, He is very good at making your sin known to you.
Right now before Christ completely demolishes our sin nature the "new life" will not be free of sin, as the works in progress that we are the fact that we are even able to be Christlike at all is an incredible gift from God. It isn't about us becoming like Him anyway, it's about bringing glory to God, even if it means we are uncomfortable, even if that lack of comfort is due to sin.
It is right to not want to sin, it is right to want to move on from said sin, but sin and insufficiency are what push us closer to Christ. Without that never ending need for grace we would simply live perfect little lives and forget that it was all about God in the first place. We aren't supposed to simply change the way we live, we are supposed to let Christ live through us, we don't have to do anything, anything at all, it is Christ who will accomplish, Christ who is at work. Without Him there is no mission, so all we have to do is hold on tight to Him, let Him take the lead, let Him work through us and on us. If you will open your heart to Him and let Him guide you, He will show you the way, He will show you what you need to work on, what you need to do, if you fix your eyes on Christ and stop worrying about your own comfort and desires. Everything will work out.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
The good, the bad and the ugly, the joys of life and the sin. The good times and hard times all work together for the good of those who are in Christ. In Christ every need is taken care of and no matter what our souls have been redeemed and we have Christ's righteousness before God.
Thanks for reading,
Zachary
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