Friend To Friend
Our grandson is now six-months old and does something new every day. It seems like just yesterday when Justus was an infant, content to be held and cuddled. Not so much anymore. He has discovered a whole new world of exciting things and wants to grab each one and put it in his mouth. He is one knee away from crawling and is teething two teeth. I hate to admit it, but he is growing up - fast!
One of the first signs of maturing was when Justus started to open his little hands. For the first few weeks of his life, his fingers tightly curled into a tiny fist and stayed that way. However, the day soon came when he extended his little fingers and began to grab anything he could touch. We had to change our perspective and make sure that anything within his reach was helpful - not harmful - to his growth.
Our spiritual maturity is much the same. As we grow in Christ, our faith slowly unfolds in daily obedience as God guides and encourages us to let go of the "old things" and reach for the "new things" he has planned for our lives. However, it is not always easy to let go of those old things.
One of the key factors in my ongoing battle with clinical depression is dealing with and letting go of past sin and pain. The shadows of yesterday can so easily become the dark clouds of today. In order to deal with depression and the darkness life can hold, we must deal with sin - first, in a personal relationship with Christ and then on a daily basis as a believer.
Every believer has two problems when it comes to dealing with sin. First, we must confess sin. I know it sounds simple but so many of us have lost our sensitivity to sin because we are aligned with the world instead of with God. The mark of a believer growing in grace is sensitivity to sin. When I was a little girl, I rarely wore shoes. But when the first day of summer came along, I would kick off my shoes and store them in my closet - wearing them only when absolutely necessary. Even now, I can remember the painful sensations of playing on the gravel road beside our house. The sharp rocks cut and bruised my tender feet - at first - but by summer's end, my feet were rough and calloused. I could run, jump and play for hours on the rocks that had once caused so much pain.
Sin is much the same. The first time we commit a sin, it breaks our heart, but the next time we commit that same sin, it doesn't seem quite as bad. Our heart becomes calloused to that sin we repeatedly commit and a foothold is formed, making a place for depression and darkness to reside. We must confess sin completely, confidently and continually. Jesus is faithful and will keep His promise to forgive and to cleanse us from all sin.
Psalm 103:12 (NIV) "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
The second problem we have with sin is forgetting forgiven sin. Is it even possible to experience true forgiveness? While we can't totally blot out a memory, we can make sure it's no longer a live issue in our lives. God's way seems too easy - to just ask for and receive. We act as if the Holy Spirit needs our help or as if what Jesus did on the cross was not enough. We feel like we must make additional payments for our sin by doing something when Micah 7:19 is clear about God's attitude toward our sin, "Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean" (NLT). The problem comes when we revisit confessed sin, when we "go fishing" in the waters of our past.
Sometimes, the darkness in life is the result of sin we have never acknowledged or dealt with. Guilt and shame surround each transgression and since condemnation seems like the logical solution, we allow the darkness to consume us as payment for each sin. If we want to walk in victory, we must make the deliberate choice to face and deal with sin - and then let it go!
