God tells us in 1Corinthians 4:20 (NLT), “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.” Heavenly Father has to remind us of a few things in His Word, because sometimes we allow life to get in the way. We forget that He’s given us access to an extreme level of power through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. No matter what you’re facing or what you’re going through, you will always have the opportunity to become stronger through Christ. He is the true example of strength. Hebrews 4:15(NIV) tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” He faced it all, and in God’s Word, He tells us how we can rise again, no matter how many times we fall.
Sometimes, we fall really far off the path of righteousness because we’ve made a wrong choice or bad decision. We do something that nowhere resembles the kind of person we know we should be. As a Christian, it’s natural to feel really sorry about what we’ve done. We should seek God’s forgiveness in the most earnest way that we can. 1John 1:19(NIV) tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Only God can purify us. We can’t do this ourselves. One of the greatest lessons that our mistakes teach us is that we need to depend and trust in God’s power, because He’s working in us.
We can become very discouraged when it looks like we just can’t overcome a certain sin. Maybe we’re struggling with sadness or feelings of unworthiness from a failed relationship, or we’re dealing with shame from losing a job or home. Some of us are not where we thought we’d be in life, and it seems that people don’t respect us because of it. In these times, God wants us to remember that Jesus Christ has done for us what no other could do. Because of his sacrifice and resurrection, we have victory no matter what our situation looks like. We are going through, and if we keep the faith, we will always come out on the other side better than we ever could have imagined.
Through the Apostle Paul, God tells us in Romans 6:6-8(NIV), “6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” It isn’t the beating ourselves up and feeling bad that gets us in line. The thing that causes us to become stronger spiritually is growing in our knowledge of Christ and believing in what he accomplished for us on the cross.
Through Jesus Christ we have the power to overcome any obstacle or sin, because God’s Word declares that we are no longer slaves to sin. He says that we are to be humble like little children; and like little children, sometimes we fall and get scraped up or have a bruise here and there; we may even cry about it. But this hurt or pain we feel from falling is never meant to last. It helps to remind us of the things that don’t work, and most importantly, it reminds us that we have a loving Heavenly Father that cares about us deeply.
The heart of God is that nothing stands between us and our relationship with Him, that is why He’s dealt with the sin issue through Jesus Christ. When we fall down through some of the mistakes, missteps, and mishaps that happen in life, we have a choice. We can either wallow in self-doubt or self-condemnation, or we can enjoy what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross, and be thankful to God for His enduring mercy and grace.■
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“After the Fall”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.