Taking ownership for the sins I commit is huge. It's so easy to simply pass it on to another person. We were taught to do this in the Garden of Eden by the very first humans to walk upon the earth. We all know how the story goes, Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the forbidden fruit. She takes a bite and is like "This stuff isn't so bad, my husband should try it!" So off she goes a running through the Garden till she spies Adam sitting under a tree, and says "Here ya go! this fruit doesn't kill you like we thought! See, I'm still living!!"
Dear old Adams is like "Yea your prolly right!" and takes a big ole' juicy bite out of the apple. And Boom!! just like that their sin is upon them, and they realized they were naked!
"Oh No" they cried and ran for the bushes to hide! Because they sinned, they felt shame.
You see there was no feelings of shame before sin. Sin brings shame. So now they were hiding from God in the bushes. All alone and afraid! Sin also brought Fear, which they had never known before either. God calls out to them and says, "Where are you"?? He's looking for His friends that He created to have an intimate relationship with.
Adam whimpers, "I'm hiding cuz I'm naked, afraid, and ashamed"!
God whispers "who told you"??
And Adam ,with his head hanging low, replies, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she told me to eat". Already, the blame game had begun.
So the Lords attention shifted to Eve as He asked her why she had done this.
With the hopeless feeling of being called responsible for the sin she replies with more blaming,"The serpent! He beguiled me"! And I did eat.
So the Lord cursed the serpent, multiplied the woman sorrow and cursed the ground. Causing a chain of events in which we live today.This is what sin does. It destroys that perfect relationship with the Father. It hinders our connection with him. Sin is the reason Jesus died for us, so that we might be saved, and to restore that broken relationship with the Father. My fellow humans I plead with you, do not let sin destroy your life too! Repent and come to Jesus. He is the only way out! The shame and fear that sin brings, is meant to drive us to our knees. God doesn't put condemnation upon us! That's the devil trying once more to deceive us! God wants us to be free from our sin. That's why he created a way of escape. He wants a relationship with you and I. We cannot connect with him with sin in our lives, no matter how small we think it might be. No matter the circumstances into which we fell into this sin. Sin is still sin in God's eyes. We serve a righteous and holy God. Sin cannot and will not be tolerated in his kingdom.
This brings me to my point. When we get hurt or abused in life or we have circumstances in which we feel out of control in, we have to do what I call a three step process.
We must take ownership and repent for any bitterness, anger, offense, or any other feelings that weren't from God.
We must forgive. Forgiveness doesn't mean what the other person did was right, it simply means that we are releasing them, and they no longer have to pay for the wrong done.
Stand on the truth that you are forgiven! Believe in faith that God's grace and mercy is enough! So often I am tempted to fall into condemnation when I fail but, when we repent, Gods word says we are forgiven! So even when we dont "feel" forgiven, if we've repented and forgiven others, Then WE ARE FORGIVEN! WE ARE A CHILD OF GOD! We must stand on those promises when the evil one try to tempt us.
Ephesians 5:13 For brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not ;liberty as an occasion unto flesh, but by love SERVE one another.
God desperately wants us to be free, and through his grace we no longer need to be victims to the ones who have hurt us, but can be Victorious! Gods grace does not over look sin but is the enabling power to overcome it.