Whenever we get something wrong, whether it be committing a sin or just making some sort of honest mistake, we will usually want to put that thing to the back of our minds and forget it as soon as possible. After all, thinking about what we have done wrong is hardly a pleasant experience.
Now, of course it is not helpful to dwell on our failures. Moreover, we know that when we confess our sins God forgives us (1 John 1:9), and we should join Him in forgiving ourselves, which will mean banishing thought of what we did from our minds. However, before letting go of what we have done wrong, we should still take time to learn what we can from it. Getting something wrong should be seen as a golden opportunity to learn. All of us have weaknesses in our characters, and unless we are careful we will tend to commit the same sins repeatedly. I believe that all too often Christians fall into the same sin time and time again partly because they are not learning, or even really trying to learn, from their mistakes. Unpleasant though it may be, if we make an effort to think through the build up to a sin or mistake, as if on slow-motion replay, it may be possible to pinpoint the exact moment when we stepped out of line. We will then become better aware of exactly what sorts of situations and temptations are dangerous for us personally, and in some circumstances we can take steps to avoid being tempted. Jesus’ teaching on the importance of steering clear of temptation is very vivid. He tells us that if our hand, eye or foot causes us to sin, we should cut it off (Matt 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48). Of course, this is not to be taken literally, but we must not go too far the other way either and ignore the powerful nature of Jesus’ teaching here. He is saying that we should take radical steps to avoid sinning. I believe that in some ways all Christians should be doing radical things to keep away from situations in which they know that they are vulnerable to temptation. Acting radically in this way is normal Christianity. |
| -----written by Max Aplin. |