Have you at times, as I have, been reminded of some sin you committed, and you just can’t get past the guilt? It is so clear in your mind it’s like it happened yesterday… or maybe it did. You’ve prayed about it, and asked for God’s forgiveness, but the guilt lingers on. Then you start asking yourself: How could I have done that, and call myself a Christian? Why should God forgive me? Next you start to doubt: Maybe I’m not a Christian at all, maybe I’m still lost…
I think we’ve all been there as Christians. Many times, we realize we have sinned and fallen short of what we expect of ourselves…more importantly what Jesus expects from us… as believers and followers of Him. The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
So, why do these sins keep coming back to haunt us?
Recently, I was scanning through the reels available on Facebook. These are short videos that are often funny and many times inspirational. The one that caught my attention that day was meant to be a joke about moms, but I stopped after the first two sentences. It said, “Satan knows your name, but he calls you by your sin. God knows your sin, but He calls you by your name.”
I read this statement over and let the words sink in. How true this is! It’s not God that reminds us of our sins, it’s that old devil, lurking around like always looking for victims… some way to cause a stumbling block in our walk with Jesus. I knew that. So why did I almost fall for it? Why did I not immediately recognize what was happening? Did I not believe that Jesus died for all my sins, past, present, and future? Satan no longer has power over my thoughts…all I have to do is rebuke him as Jesus did with His words: “Get ye behind me, Satan!”
I did that, then I thanked the Lord for giving me this message and reminding me how much He loves me. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Once confessed, He takes our sins as far away as the east is from the west…and never brings them up again to remind us of our failures.
Let us remember the next time Satan comes lurking: God knows our sin, but He calls us by our name!
