When We Fall Short

Have you ever had that moment when you thought to yourself in the words of Britney Spears “Oops I did it again”? (Not that I’m necessarily saying you should model your life after Britney Spears songs but you know what I mean.) That moment when you do the one thing that you told yourself you wouldn’t do again. You said you were going to eat better, but that chocolate bar kept calling your name. You said you weren’t going to go to that place, but you ended up there once again. You knew that person was not the best influence on you, but you don’t want to be seen as the loser who can’t hang out with them anymore. All of us have done something that we regret. Big or small. We all have something in our past we’re not extremely proud of.

I don’t know about you but I usually have the hardest time forgiving myself. I’m not saying that forgiving someone else is always a walk in the park. It can be extremely painful. And it can take a lot of time. But sometimes it’s easier than having to forgive yourself. We can make excuses for other people, justify what may have made them act a certain way. But with your own self, it’s a completely different story. You know better than to make those mistakes that you did. And when you do it over and over again, it can be hard to give yourself a chance to forgive yourself.

Luckily, there is someone who has already forgiven us for all the times we mess up. Past, present, and future. And yes of course I am talking about Jesus, someone who came and lived a perfect life and took on the shame and consequences meant for us. That does not mean we somehow got a pass to do whatever we want. Romans 6:1-2 says “What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” By saying we have died to sin kind of means we have given up that part of us. So yes, we are going to mess up sometimes because we are imperfect humans, but we should always strive for our lives to resemble that of Christ.

There is also the other end. God wants us to recognize and repent of our sin, but that does not mean we have to sit and feel sorry forever about what we did. I believe guilt is not from God. Becoming aware of how we have messed up absolutely is! And that kind of awareness is what brings about a desire to change. But guilt, the feeling that you are a terrible person and neither God nor anyone else will be able to love you again because of what you have done, is not from Him. Besides, it’s not like you are the only person that has ever made a mistake. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) God does not define us by the sin in our lives. He wouldn’t call us sons and daughters if He did. It’s okay to want to fix the wrong we may have done and yeah sometimes that recovery process can take a while. But getting stuck in the past and becoming consumed with guilt from the things you have done is not beneficial. Usually for me, feeling sorry for myself makes it harder to love on others because I become too consumed with myself.

We all have things in our lives that we wish we had done differently. Don’t let what has happened in your past take over your mind and your life. Every morning could mark the day you start to make some positive and lifelong changes. You’re never too far away from grace. God will never stop loving you. He doesn’t want you to be a broken soul overcome with defeat. Jesus already has the victory. It’s time to pick yourself up and act like you believe that you are forgiven. That you are loved. Because trust me, you definitely are!