Mistakes and Bad Choices

I did not become a Christian until I was 37 years old. It was August 4, 1991. 17 years ago in just a couple of weeks.

I am an awful sinner. I just did not realize it before this time. I thought of myself as a "good" person who did wrong things, made "bad" choices, opted for some "mistakes".

It would be great if I said that on August 4, 1991 that I ceased sinning.

I didn't.

What happened though, is that my eyes were opened to be able to see past my own desires. Prior to that August day, I could see the sin in others, but ignored my own sins - unless they worked against me. Then I would often lament more at being caught in the sin than about doing the sin in the first place.

This, I believe, is how most people see their own sinfulness and react when their sins are pointed out. This was Adam's first reaction - to blame Eve, to blame God Himself, so it should not be surprising when our own first reaction is to "blame" someone else. Given our culture, where even the guilty are viewed more as victims than perpetrators, it should not be surprising that Christians be seen as hypocritical.

Most Christians (but not all) tend to view sin from the eyes of a co-conspirator rather than a judge, but it is almost impossible to convey that clearly. In our society, increasingly, the mere act of calling something a "sin" is worse than the sin itself.

We Christians also often fail to heed the command of Galatians 6:1 - "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted".

Our response to the sins of others need to be in a way that does not bring about sin to ourselves. That is why we are admonished in Matthew to "take the log out of our own eye" first.
That is the warning in the last line of Gal 6:1 - "lest you be tempted" - tempted to see yourself as superior, tempted to force the other persons obedience, tempted to use blunt force instead of a gently tap.

The bottom line is that we need to be dealing with sin in our lives while we help a brother (or sister) to deal with their sin - all through Christ, and we need to be doing that in the spirit of love - which is doing that which is in their best interest.

God may treat our sin as forgotten, but we should never forget them, and we should always strive to react to the sins of others in a way we would want others to react to in our sins - to lovingly rebuke and restore us.

For His Glory,
Tom