Paul wrote: ‘I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand…how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete’ (vv. 16-19 NLT). In spite of our best intentions, we still sin. And that makes us feel bad about ourselves. Satan uses our feelings of guilt and self-condemnation to make us doubt God’s love for us. But if God loved you enough to send His Son to die on your behalf even though you’re imperfect, you can be sure He won’t change His mind about you when you’re His redeemed but struggling child. Feeling bad about sin is actually proof that you truly are God’s child. When you accepted Jesus to be part of your life, you became a renewed spirit living in a body still drawn to earthly things. So whenever we allow sin to enter our lives, our renewed spirit rises up and says, ‘Get that out of here, it’s incompatible with who I am.’ God doesn’t stop loving us when we sin, but sin is an unwelcome guest that makes us feel bad about ourselves and steals our confidence in God. So if you’re aware of any sin that’s made its home in your life, repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and move forwards stronger and wiser.
