30th April

“The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.”

Psalm 103:8-10

So often in my own life, I have fallen into sin and felt like I was in a whole of condemnation that I couldn’t get of. The sin was not only influencing my intimacy with Jesus, but also acted as a chain bound around my hands and feet stopping me from being who I was created to be and making me feel like a worthless spec in the eyes of God. Maybe you can relate to this when you have sinned or in habitual sin. It is like an overwhelming sense of un-worthiness. However this is complete lies! According to David’s words in these verses, God’s attitude and actions towards us are completely the opposite to what we deserve.

God’s character is full of love. He is compassionate and merciful. He knows we will make mistakes yet He still loves us. He is slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love (commitment love) towards us. When we slip up or make mistakes, He doesn’t come with a pointed finger condemning us of our sins and making us feel worthless. He doesn’t stay angry with us even though we might keep falling down. He even doesn’t deal with us as we deserve to be dealt with. He is love. He won’t stop loving us because of our behaviour. He loves us all the time irrespective of our behaviour.

However, when the Holy Spirit does convict us, (a Godly prompt that what we are doing or how we are living isn’t God’s best for us or in accordance with His ways), our role is to accept His prompting, ask forgiveness and get back up. God doesn’t want us to accept the lies that we are doomed to eternal damnation if we fall down. He doesn’t want us to stay down but get back up. He wants us to live in the truth that after you have asked for forgiveness He has forgotten about your sin and wants to shower you with more of His love. Reject the lies and accept the truth.