30 Days of Love - Day 7: What to Do When You Mess Up – Part One

Day 7: What to Do When You Mess Up – Part One

(Click here for Day 6)

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25

There comes a time in ever believer’s life when they’re going along just fine, and then an all-out flesh-out happens. If you don’t know what I mean by “all-out flesh-out,” well, it can mean a lot of different things. For me, it usually starts with a bunch of whiny, negative thoughts that I decide to entertain for a while (big mistake)—long enough for them to start coming out of my mouth. All of the sudden, everyone (except myself, naturally) is a selfish poop head, and I start fuming about why do I always have to behave perfectly when everyone else doesn’t bother? Throw some tissues and housework getting done very loudly into the mix, and you have my version of the all-out flesh-out.

I’ve gotten better! Promise! *cough*

If you can relate to any of that, realize you’re not alone. Nothing you go through, no temptation you face, is specific to you alone. Everyone has triggers and issues. If you didn’t, then you probably wouldn’t have any need to read a book about walking in love.

Don’t think for a minute that messing up means failure. Failure only comes if you quit. So, when you mess up, get up, dust yourself off, turn yourself around, and get back to it.

Homewo—

What’s that? You want to know if God is mad at you? In today’s verse you can see that God said He wouldn’t remember your sins anymore, but here’s more proof from the New Testament:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Once we repent, God forgives. It’s just that we’ve been trained to feel guilty—that if we don’t suffer guilt over our mistakes long enough we’re not really repentant or sorry. We feel we have to do some hard time wallowing in misery to show we’re really sorry.

Let me ask you, if God immediately forgives us, who are we to spend another moment letting the devil beat us over the head with it? Think with me about this for a moment here. As long as you’re wallowing in guilt, you’re not walking out God’s call on your life. So not only is the devil enjoying the fact that you slipped up, you’re giving him icing on the cake by sitting around moping about it.

I know it’s not always easy—but quit it! Get out your Bible and start talking about who God says you are. God doesn’t call you a low-life, good-for-nothing loser. So don’t call yourself names either. Repent, and move on. When the devil persists in attacking your mind with defeatist thoughts, you snap to attention, flip open your Bible to 1 John 1:9, and proclaim, “I am forgiven, and I am cleansed from all unrighteousness!”

Homework:

Go to the back of your Bible, use a concordance, or search online for Bible verses about mercy, grace, forgiveness, and God’s love. Take note of any that seem to jump out at you. (Maybe you could be brave and share some of them with is in the comments section!)