Hi Ladies,
What happens after the decision is made to jump into the premarital bed? As we know, this is not an unforgiveable sin, but our actions hold the keys to our future.
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty
We’re often amazed that, contrary to the promise of its lures, sinful activity can leave such a bitter taste in our spirit and is seldom the sublime experience that the enemy entices us to expect. And even if it was momentarily fulfilling, our honest response, if we truly belong to Jesus Christ, will be recognition that we have dishonored both our self and the Lord.
The end result is a feeling of heaviness and guilt because sin causes pain in a Believer, and guilt is an indicator of that pain, just as physical pain indicates trouble in our body. We’re aware of the wrong we’ve done and feel bad about it. But if we stop now and truly ask our Father for forgiveness, the matter can end there. We will sincerely repent and move on, never to repeat that failure again.
But too often, our repentance is only partial. We focus our guilt on the manifestation of the immorality, rather than on the processes that caused the offense in the first place, so our remorse is incomplete. For example, we’re sorry that we had sex with the guy, instead of addressing the lust in our heart. Or we feel guilty for cheating on our income tax instead of confronting the greed that is the root cause. And because the underlying drives have not actually been renounced, they remain there. The enemy has not given up nor has he departed, especially after scoring such a victory. He’s merely biding his time before trying again. But where there is guilt, there is hope.
Over this and the next few blogs, we’ll evaluate several traps to avoid on the path to truly renouncing a sin:
#1 Trap – Good Works
This is a very common motivation in the church world today. We may try to combat the guilt generated by our actions by striving harder to be a “good” Christian. But doubling up on churchgoing or committing to “good works” serves only as a smokescreen. It offers no relief for either our remorse, or our subconscious inclination to hold onto the sin.
Deciding to never miss a Sunday service, or to attend Bible study every Wednesday night, or to work as a youth counselor, without building up our personal prayer life and communication with God will not resolve the problem. Without authentic renunciation after asking for forgiveness, the drives that led to the immorality in the first place will not have been removed. And despite all that churchly activity, we know deep within our soul that the urge to sin is still there.
This wrong focus on religious activities is prevalent in the thinking of “religious” people and is one of the reasons that reprehensible behaviors remain unchecked. The urge to disguise sin with a false front of piety forms the fake spirituality of many a carnal Christian. It is pseudo-religion, displaying the form of worship, but not the substance, which comes only from a submitted relationship with Jesus Christ.
It is a counterfeit ritual, designed to present a godly image, but without relinquishing inner desires and transgressions of the heart. And it’s only the beginning of many consequences that will result from deciding to embark upon an excursion into sin. But even after ignoring Holy Spirit and straying far off the path, God is there, extending His hand of mercy to us, His errant yet still beloved child.
Participation in premarital sexual intimacy or any other questionable activity will awaken feelings of guilt within a godly single because that’s what God has planned. Feeling guilty is a good sign since where there is guilt, the possibility for repentance and renunciation still exists. The ultimate sin comes when we no longer feel any concern. When we become argumentative and ready to quarrel over truths, over moral principles that we know are God-given, we are then hastening toward real trouble.
More traps next week…Joy and Shalom!
Jo Lynne Pool
Author – A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND…Unless You Ask God to Be Head of Your Search Committee
jo lynne pool - Love in The Book.org 