I've said this a couple times in fellowship - we can sometimes be tougher on ourselves than God is on us. It is so easy to only see the many things we didn't get right without acknowledging what we did well. We forget that our failures won't cause God to fail. We assume He expects our perfection ignoring the word in Psalm 103:14 which states, [f]or he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust (NLT).
We chastise ourselves for every little mistake forgetting what the Lord said to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. Yes, God can use our very shortcomings and suffering to glorify Himself. Think of the many stories in the Bible that reveal the mistakes people made. People that God still helped when they cried out to Him for help and mercy. He used their bad choices to display His greatness.
The devil wants you to think that God is holding every mistake you ever made against you. That is simply not true. God loves you. He wants you to know that more than anything satan's lying voice will ever try to convince you of. And it doesn't matter who the enemy uses to speak that deceptive word to you. There is no mistake you've ever made that shocked Him. Yes, that choice you feel so guilty about...He already knows what you did. And He doesn't want you destroyed by guilt. He wants you to come right back to him with that sin and lay it at his feet, seeking forgiveness and the strategies that will prevent it in the future. He will offer you a new start. A chance to reset and go forward with him.
He actually forgets the sin He has forgiven you of (Isaiah 43:25). All because of His great grace. This is why Lamentations 3:22-23 proclaims, [t]he steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (NRSV). That love and mercy aren't reserved for the perfect, they are reserved for the imperfect who are striving to reach a perfect God in heaven.
I pray you will remember that you, in all your sin, were so important to God that He sent Jesus to die and set the terms for your freedom from sin's consequences. He did that so that you can tap into His everlasting love and mercy. All waiting for you - the imperfect sinner - to access.
That said, please do not take from this message that you can settle into a sinful habit or lifestyle thinking God's mercy will always find you. That is not what a 'mistake' is. Romans 6:1-2 - What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] grace may increase and overflow? Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer? (AMP). Never forget that the Israelites of old thought the same, worshiping idols and doing things God told them not to. He showed great mercy and patience for 390 years then Ezekiel told us that God's glory left the Temple and thus, the people (Ezekiel 10). He left them to the sins they'd chosen over Him.
God wants you to choose Him over the sin your flesh desires. When you do, He will help you through the slip ups. He will guide you around every temptation. He will strengthen you so that you no longer desire what imperfects but instead long for what perfects - Him.
God bless you.
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