What is your response to some known sin in your life?

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17

James 3:2 says that we all fall in many ways. It's true, isn't it? No one could ever say, "Well, I've never failed the Lord."

But what do you do when you're confronted with your sin? When God by a messenger, a circumstance or His Word holds up a mirror to you and you are made aware of some fault what do you do in that critical moment?

Because we all are prone to fail the Lord, the issue then becomes, how do I respond when my sin is revealed to me? That is the great dividing line in all of humanity.

In 1 Samuel 15, the life of King Saul is under the microscope. We meet him at a pivotal moment when he is confronted with his sin. Tragically, rather than admitting what he did was wrong, he attempts a major cover-up. First he blamed it on the people. Then, he rationalized, "Yeah, I did most of that, but then I sacrificed to the Lord."

In essence Saul's strategy was like a lot of Christian's today, I'll do what I want and then I'll ask for forgiveness.

But there are some things you can't recover from. We like to kid ourselves by rationalizing, I'll do my thing until I get what I want and then I'll tell God I'm sorry and He'll receive me back. Will God forgive you? Yes, but you will bear the consequences of that decision for the rest of your days on earth. Did God forgive Saul? Yes, but Saul lost his opportunity to be king and nothing would change that. We live with our choices. That does not mean that it is God who is punishing you for your choices...it is not. Usually the choices we make involves other people and their wills and their wills may be set against God and they are not willing to change, thus you live with the consequences of that person's will to not allow God to restore and bless by turning their lives over to God.

You say, "Well, what should I do when I realize I've sinned?" Unlike Saul, when you see your sin, be broken about it. Deal with it God's way. Welcome His deepest work within you. Choose sincerity over religious ritual. Choose repentance over rationalization. Choose brokenness over boasting. Choose a right relationship with Him over your own pride.

God waits for that moment when He sees you turn around. When He sees your repentant heart, His arms are open for you as He expresses the love that He as always had for you.

This could be your moment right now. Repent of any know sin and bask in His forgiveness, love and desire to be in relationship with you. Stop peforming the do's and dont's of religion and develop your relationship with Him and these sins will not have a hold on you. Christianity is not a religion sanctioned by you adhering to rules and regulations, it is a relationship with the Godhead that brings freedom and a work of purity that begins internally and is manifested by the external man/woman.

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