The Area of Sinning

I love posts like the this one because I am going to sound like I am completely contradicting myself. I don't know why I enjoy that...I just do. But as you know from previous posts. I am actually not contradicting myself. You just may have to read closely. :)

My main two points of this post are:
1. Don't worry so much about your sinning.
2. For Pete's sake...STOP SINNING!

-PART ONE-

:) Told you they are contradictory. Let me explain.
I will spend more time on the first issue, because I'm guessing that's the one that's making you want to slap me. ;) Am I condoning sinning? No. Here's my point (I have several actually). You know how everyone freaks out about certain sins, and not others. Let's say purity for one. If someone has sex outside of marriage (especially a Christian) we cover our mouths, gasping aloud. Or if someone is addicted to things on the internet we shake our heads and promise to pray very hard that the addiction will be taken away. But what about people who judge? If you've ever read the teachings of Jesus (you may have heard of Him), pretty much the biggest thing He tells us not to do is judge. Over and over he warns that the sinner is closer to the kingdom than the one who judges. But there aren't any conferences held for those struggling with judging. I guarantee you, that if you are sharing problems with a group of people, and one person struggles with internet and the other with judging...the biggest reaction will happen after the one with the addiction confesses. That makes zero sense.

You know all the problems our generation is having (probable)? One HUGE reason is because I feel like sexual desires is the only sin anyone talks to us about, while that is talked about so little in the Bible. Is it a huge problem? Yes. But of the one million sins possible, that should receive about 1/1 millionth of our attention. What about pride? My Dad (who is pretty much amazing) always tells me that pride is at the center of every sin, "i" is at the center of pride, and pride is not caring about what Jesus wants. Am I alone on this, or does anyone else feel like teens are JUST being taught to be pure? Be pure all you want, but I'd rather be impure than a judge. I'd prefer neither. But who am I to judge. My favorite passage in the Bible is John 8:1-12 (the woman caught in adultery). Read it. It changed my life. Adultery was one of the worst sins possible back then, and when the Pharisees tried to get Jesus involved guess how He responded? He IGNORED them. Why? Because think about what THEY had just done. The passage says that the pharisees had caught her IN THE VERY ACT of adultery. Think about that for a second. MESSED UP! And yet...I am amazed at how similar "Christians" (I'm disliking that term more and more every day) are to the Pharisees. We have conferences for that woman, and give the Pharisees pats on the back and say, "try not to judge so bad next time."
Point 1 of this post. Stop freaking out about ONLY purity and realize the sins Jesus hated so much.

-PART TWO-

Moving on (this is gonna be longer than I thought)...
In the previous paragraphs I pointed out how similar we are to the pharisees. Let me point out even MORE similarities. Not only were the pharisees enthralled with exposing the "major sins", they were obsessed with exposing sin, period. The pharisees took Moses' commandments and built commandments even around those so that they wouldn't even come close to sinning. Is that bad? No. But...the pharisees took it so far that they believed they were attaining their own ticket to Heaven. But all along, the point of the 10 Commandments had been to POINT OUT sin....not avoid them. The point of Israel's rules was for TEMPORARY covering of sin. COVERING...not washing away of.

Now, we all know that Jesus came to save us from our sins, but I think we are forgetting a major thing. Jesus did not die so that He could wipe away our sins every time we sinned. Think about that...read it again. I'll even say it again. Jesus did NOT die so that He could wipe away our sins every time we sinned. He died to wipe away our sins...period. Every single one...EVER. We are completely righteous now and forever. Satan has really tried to make us forget. You don't have to ask forgiveness after sinning. Why would we ask? It was already forgiven. Asking is assuming that WE have to do something to earn forgiveness. You are completely white in God's eyes. The devil says to us, "Look at what you did!" But we say, "Jesus took that sin on Himself a long time ago."

Why do we freak out so much? Of course we are going to sin. That's why Jesus died! We are born into sin. It's a curse. We are a bunch of cursed people. BUT. Jesus cured us of the curse...once and for all. You don't get cursed again when you sin, and have to say, "Whoops! Hey God, can you take away this curse again...I accidentally got infected again." We were once dead. But Jesus made us alive. We don't keep dying. He doesn't have to keep raising us from the dead. God is bigger than that. Jesus' death means so much more than that.
Point 2 of this post. Maybe sin isn't as "bad" as we thought it was.

-PART THREE-

Now...with all this in mind. How in the world do we keep sinning??? Jesus (God) left the perfection of Heaven to die. WORSE yet...God turned His back (which is a really big deal)! For you. For me. So...why do I keep sinning? Because I am fallen. I'm human. It's kinda what humans do. We mess up. We think bad thoughts without even trying. It's completely natural. Now, do we ask God to take away these thoughts? Yes. And I am convinced that once you are saved God will begin to direct your thoughts toward Him. But you will continue to mess up. It stinks, but it's true. That's why Heaven is gonna be so amazing, and I'm pretty pumped to get there. But remember. Every sin you have or will commit is already in the past. Scientists won't agree with me, but it's true. So, don't let sin get you down. Let your mistakes prove that Jesus is greater than you and them. 

BUT. Don't keep sinning. :) I know...it's confusing. Let me explain. What about addictions? Now, get out of your 21st century minds and remember that addiction doesn't just mean sexual like they want you to think. Judging is addictive, pride, hate, selfishness, lying, etc. Every sin can be addictive. And I'm pretty sure every Christian at one point has struggled with some kind of addiction. I definitely have struggled with several. Judging being one. But like I said...John 8:1-12 (did you read it yet) completely changed my mindset around age 16 or 17. I mean, come one. I am a PK. I'm like the highest level of Christianity, right? Bad as it is, that was my mindset for 17 years. I knew I was a sinner, but I was a as good as sinners come. Until I started reading the Bible daily (highly recommend it). I began to realize how bad I was. David called himself a worm. WOW! The man after God's own heart a worm? That makes me like....a handicapped worm. And then I read John 8:1-12 (among other similar passages about judging). Let me tell you what, in no other area of my life have I had such a 180 turn-around. Jesus really must have a plan for my life that requires me to not be a judge, because I ran from my former thoughts so fast. But my eyes were just SO opened to how SINFUL judging is. Judging isn't a problem of thinking too less of others, but too much of yourself. 

But other addictions did not go so easily. And I cried, "God...take this from me!" And yet, like Luke Skywalker said "I can't shake him" (only Star Wars fans will get that)! Roughly 8 years I prayed that prayer. "God...why can't I stop?!" I made altar commitments (something I don't do anymore), I made vows to myself and God, I had accountability partners. None of it worked. So one day I sat down and asked myself instead of God. "Why can't you stop?" And it hit me pretty quick. I love sin more than God. After that it didn't take long. I don't really remember that as the day I was "freed", but rather as the day I fell in love with Jesus. So, I don't judge others one bit...but if someone tells me they are addicted...(from personal experience) my first thought is "have you fallen in love with Jesus yet?" We are set free from the power of sin. No temptation is too great. And so...if we are consistently surrendering to sin, have we truly fell in love with Jesus? Paul tells us to examine ourselves. This is something we all need to be doing. If I keep sinning over and over and over, I need to stop and say, "wait a minute! Am I really following Jesus? I prayed the prayer, but do I really desire to follow him?" My final point of part three. If you are struggling with sin, don't try to stop sinning...it won't work. Try falling in love with Jesus. It's not hard. He sweeps you off your feet pretty easy. 

Point 3 of this post. Stop sinning by falling in love with Jesus. 

In closing, I am not saying by any means that if you suffer from addiction of anything that you are not following Christ. Some great men of God suffered from addictions their whole lives. BUT....remember 

1 Corinthians 10:13 (no temptation is too great). And dwell on Matthew18:9. If you are addicted to something, get rid of the temptation by WHATEVER means. If you saw Fireproof (amazing), you remember when Kirk Cameron smashed his computer? Really ask yourself, would you be willing to do that? If your friends are causing you to sin...stop hanging out with them. I mean it. It's hard, but are you really willing to follow Jesus? If you "don't have time" to read your bible, sell your Xbox. It's worth it. Whatever your struggle is, there are normal, everyday ways to help remove it. Don't just pray...if you really care do your own part. Now, just because our sins have been washed away does not mean we won't experience earthly consequences. Because if you haven't noticed...you will. And the greatest consequence of sin is more sin. Also, remember not to judge. It's easy if you view yourself as a worm. But above all, remember that Jesus died for you, and took it all away. :)

PS. As always I speak on my own behalf as well (that sounded very 1800's). :)