Not perfect, just forgiven

"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."- 1 Corinthians 6:11

An after-Christmas shopper with a four-year-old was standing in line to return an unwanted Christmas gift. The line just wasn’t moving. As it grew longer, tempers grew shorter. The fellow with the little boy calmy said, "Take it easy, Albert. We’ll make it. Don’t get upset." The little boy waited patiently. An older lady noticing that the little boy seemed reassured by the comments of his father, leaned over and said, "Sir, you handle Albert very well. He’s a fine little boy." Somewhat sheepishly the man replied, "Thank you, but his name is William. My name is Albert!"

"I thought that if I became a Christian," wrote one friend of Guidelines, "Everything would be okay. But I find that since I became a Christian I have not become any nicer than I was before."

Christians are not perfect, just forgiven. Now, this isn’t an excuse that justifies your pushing or shoving or deliberate acts of wrongdoing. Justifying something doesn’t make it right. Growing in God’s grace, however, means the Holy Spirit works in your heart, encouraging you, and sometimes reproving you. Our greatest failures can prove to be our most potent learning experiences.

Ok, you blew it. You know what you said or did was wrong. "If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives," wrote John to young believers. But those words were preceded by the solution as he wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9, 10).

My father was converted at age forty. After his conversion some of te same character flaws and habits that were present bfore he came to Christ were still there, particularly profanity. When I was a teenager, what spoke to my heart was his immediate sense of conviction of wrongdoing and his determination to stop the habit. After he met Jesus Christ, when his self-control failed him, he was quick to apologize.

The Bible calls this ongoing work of God in our lives sanctification, or becoming Christ-like. When you fail, don’t give up, don’t rationalize your failure, and don’t accept it as merely part of being human. One of the great undiscovered truths of the Gospel is that with God’s forgiveness comes His strength. With this, we can triumph over a situation or a bad habit.

Read 1 Corinthians 6:11, where Paul catalogues human failure and adds, "And that is what some of you were." The Christian life is an ongoing walk where you can grow stronger with each experience. That’s God’s plan.

Resource Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

* * *

Tomorrow Begins Today is available in bookstores nationwide. For more information, write to Guidelines Philippines, Box 4000, 1284 Makati City or e-mail [email protected]. Visit our website www.guidelines.org.