In Matthew 6:14-15(NLT), Jesus Christ teaches us an extremely important lesson about forgiveness. He said, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” This passage gives us an equation of “If we do this, favorable results will happen. If we do not do this, then the result will not be favorable.” From his teaching, we understand that God’s forgiveness is to the extent that we forgive others. This suggests to us that a blessing can be blocked or prevented from manifesting in our lives by our refusal or neglect to produce the conditions for it. Knowing this is incredibly vital to any woman that is praying for God to bless her to meet her future spouse.
We must consider that there can be things that we’re holding in our hearts and behaviors we’re engaging that are blocking our blessings. Our wonderfully loving Heavenly Father isn’t in Heaven waving a big stick at us and refusing to give us the desires of our hearts. Psalm 84:11 tells us that He doesn’t withhold any good thing from those who do what is right. We must understand that blessings are magnetized where the authority of Jesus Christ is upheld and applied. God designed the universe in such a way that everything in it must obey Christ authority. Ephesians 1:22(NLT) tells us, “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.”
To repent is to have a change of mind and a change of heart. It means that we have lined up our minds and hearts with the One that is the Head, which is Jesus Christ. In a physical sense, we know that the head governs the entire body. God beautifully designed this to demonstrate the position Jesus Christ holds. He is the head, and as believers and followers of Christ, we are his body; we belong to him. To repent means that we have made a commitment to not only seek God’s forgiveness for our wrongdoing, but we are committed to change the way we think and act, so that we’re not continually creating a space where sin can cozy up. If we’ve not yet made this commitment to God through repentance, then we may still have a mindset that is friendly towards sin. Romans 8:7 tells us that a mind and heart that harbors patterns of sinful behavior is a mindset that is hostile towards God. So, when we talk about blockers that hinder our blessings, we must consider that unrepented sin may be in the picture.
Sexual sin is rampant in our culture, so much so that people are behaving as if it is not a sin at all. Even believers are doing this. There’s probably not many who would argue the fact that, in this day and age, promiscuity in our nation unfortunately begins at a much younger age now. As a matter of fact, it’s becoming commonplace among school age children. Some Christians say that because God is so gracious to forgive our sins, the ramifications will not be a hindrance to our lives, but this isn’t true. Sin is forgiven, but the consequences do not evaporate into thin act. They must be faced, and we will all face them before we leave this earth. Our disobedience has allowed the enemy legal grounds to steal from us. Divorce rates and an epidemic of loneliness are all part of his handiwork. Sin belongs to the devil, and many have become desensitized to sin’s nature and consequences. If we’re honest, we must admit that even in the Christian community, many are struggling with sexual sin. They refuse to acknowledge that a failure to truly repent is blocking the blessing of marriage.
The Word of God warns us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death, but the Good News is that the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. No one can escape the truth that sin has a price and the way to remain above it is to walk in Christ. There’s no such thing as a little bit of sin, and try as we might, we can’t disregard the laws God has ordained for our lives. Galatians 6:8(NLT) tells us, “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.” We can’t fool God, and we certainly can’t walk around thinking “a little bit of sin” is ok. This would be a carnal mindset, and such a mind is an enemy against God and therefore an enemy against His blessings.
Is sin worth compromising the intimate and powerful relationship that Heavenly Father desires with each of us? Nothing is worth the cost of compromising our standing in Christ with the Father. He is so wonderful to forgive us for our sin, and He does so because of His overwhelming love for us all, but we will not get a pass when it comes to the consequences we must face. Our attitude about what pleases God conveys our commitment to follow His guidance. He’s looking at our hearts, and when our hearts are truly anchored in a desire to please Him, we’ll gain the authority of Christ. It will remove anything that separates us from God’s extraordinary plan and blessings for our lives.
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.
“No Such Thing as A Little Bit of Sin” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. 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.