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Have We Lost Our Grief over Sin?
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- Published Jan 08, 2024
I was reading the Psalms recently and there was a reaction by David that leaped off the page at me. His reaction was over his sin, and when I read it, I thought about how we view sin in our lives. I know how we often view sin in other people’s lives, many times being quick to highlight it. My concern is not about sin found in other people, but for us to consider what happens when we sin in our own lives. Listen to these profound words of David found in Psalm 38:
“O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your rage!Your arrows have struck deep,
and your blows are crushing me.Because of your anger, my whole body is sick;
my health is broken because of my sins.My guilt overwhelms me—
it is a burden too heavy to bear.My wounds fester and stink
because of my foolish sins.I am bent over and racked with pain.
All day long I walk around filled with grief.A raging fever burns within me,
and my health is broken.I am exhausted and completely crushed.
My groans come from an anguished heart.You know what I long for, Lord;
you hear my every sigh.My heart beats wildly, my strength fails,
and I am going blind.My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease.
Even my own family stands at a distance”(Psalm 38:1-11, NLT).
The History of This Psalm
There is no specific timeframe for when this Psalm was written or what was happening in David’s life that caused him to write it. Some have speculated it could be during the time of his sin with Bathsheba. Regardless of when this was written, please pay close attention to the anguish and grief David feels over his sin.
I am wondering where that attitude toward sin has gone in our westernized Christian culture.
The Horror of Sin Has Not Changed
Regardless of how the world feels about sin, the way God feels about it has not changed. It seems as if the church has slowly been adopting worldly attitudes toward sin. Instead of calling people to repentance, it is as if we give people justifications for continuing in sin. Yet, the way God sees sin is still the same. He hates it. He hates it because it destroys you and also because it drives a wedge in your relationship with him because he is a holy God.
I want to be clear, I am not saying we become judges of people in the world. We need to share the gospel with them and allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sinful condition. We also should not expect people in the world to react like David did over his sin. But, for those in the church, it is a different story. We have the Word of God and the Spirit of God, so our mindset towards sin should differ from those in the world.
Instead of focusing on what people in the world are doing first, I am saying we start by calling the people in the church to repent because we need to change our attitude towards sin.
Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Own Sin
As I stated earlier, I don’t want this to be a focus on someone else. I want you to think about yourself. Here are some questions that are introspective. Ask them of yourself, as I am doing the same thing.
- When was the last time you felt guilt over sinful behavior?
- When was the last time you grieved over sin?
- When was the last time you felt burdened because of sinful actions you had taken?
Think on these questions for a moment, but go to the micro level. So often we think of the big sins, maybe adultery or some kind of fornication, but we miss the little things such as how we love our neighbor or harbor anger towards someone. When was the last time your heart was anguished over those “insignificant” sins that are just as destructive?
I don’t know the answer to these questions in your life, but I know if we are not careful, the attitudes the world displays toward sin can become the attitude those in the church display towards it as well.
3 Key Motivators for Changing Your Attitude toward Sin
1. Because You Love Him
“If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15).
Could it be that part of David’s anguish and grief over his sin was because he knew God and loved him? I think so. After all, the Bible called him a man after God’s own heart. When you love God, then you know how much sin hurts him and if you love the Lord, why would you want to hurt him?
I have a daughter and I can see the disappointment that wells up in her eyes when she does something that she feels lets us down. She is devastated over it. For those of us who claim to love Jesus, we simply cannot continue to have casual attitudes towards sin in our lives. Again, I am not saying we become judges of others; I am saying we become judges of ourselves.
2. Because You Know Him
“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6).
If you claim to know God, then sin cannot be an ongoing part of your life. This verse is not saying you will never sin. This verse is saying you don’t live to sin or for sin. When you do sin, your response becomes like David, one of grief and a call to repentance. This happens because you know him and are in fellowship with him. When that fellowship is broken, you quickly seek to repent and restore it.
3. Because His Life Is in You
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God” (1 John 3:9).
Since God’s life is in you, in the person of the Holy Spirit, and you have been born of God, this should change your attitude toward sin. If your attitudes towards sin are growing lukewarm, then maybe you need more of God’s Spirit working in your life. Remember, he has not changed, nor has his attitude toward sin. If yours has, then we know where the problem lies.
Final Thoughts
This article is not about judgment or condemnation. This article is really about a call to holiness. We must be holy because God is holy. For those who don’t know what that means, holiness is not a state of perfection. Holiness is when you are set apart for God’s use. When we are walking in holiness, we see sin the way God sees it and we see people the way God sees them.
I can’t say where, when, or how the church got off course, but the remedy is simple. Return to your first love. It’s time we rekindle that love for Jesus we had when we first got saved, that passion that sought to please him in every area of our lives. When we get back to that place, then our attitudes towards sin will change. Not only will we turn away from it, but we will grieve over it should we fall into it.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Pheelings Media
