“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”
~1 John 2:12

Does one sin (or sin area) come into your mind when I say, “‘THAT sin’ does not define you?”

I’ll be honest and tell you that I used to– as a believer– live under the weight and shame of past sin. The cloak of “not good enough” that I wore influenced every interaction I had, especially in the church.

In my mind it disqualified me from relationships with certain godly people. I felt “less than,” and (even if it didn’t show on the outside), inside I was ashamed.

And I don’t think I’m alone in having that experience.

One of our enemy’s craftiest schemes is that he tries to convince believers that they are defined by their sin, rather than by the holiness of the One Who saved them from that sin.

Some people are haunted by sins they committed before they came to Christ; some are mortified by the things they did when they were supposed to be growing into maturity as a believer.

Things we knowingly participated in, things we felt unable to break free from, and things we did and later regretted… there is hardly a person among us who walks into church on Sunday morning who doesn’t have a “THAT sin” buried away somewhere in the shadowy corners of our heart. 

However “big,” however “small,” we all have the potential to be burdened by the weight of sin.

But the truth is that, as believers who are hidden in Christ, who have the Spirit alive and at work in us, we do not have to labor under the weight of that old burden any longer.

I am free of those old ways.

You are free of those old ways.

In Christ, there is no condemnation and you are set free from sin.

As believers, these are the banners that should be held over our lives:

Because if it was dependent on US, we would have no need for the Savior.

But with Him, there is mercy. There is forgiveness. There is an awareness that we are dust. There is HIS righteousness bestowed on us. There is an increasing sanctification that He draws us through, so that we become more like His Son, not through our own graspings but through His Word and Spirit alive in us.

My sister (or brother), “THAT” sin does not define who you are.

Your GOD defines you. He is what gives you value and worth and wholeness.

Your identity is not in the magnitude of your sin, but in your magnificent Savior.

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