I sin daily. That is scriptural, (Romans 3:23). We all live in an imperfect world full of imperfect people, from the man or woman that has chosen to live in the world, to the most pious of Popes we are all sinners. The Good News is God anticipated our sinful nature and sent His Son Jesus to be the Savior for you and for me! Praise God for His mercy and grace! But what sins are we praying for forgiveness fo? The sins we "do" or have you ever thought about the asking for forgiveness for what we do "not" do.
In the Book of Romans, Paul appears to be working through an internal conflict. It is almost like he is battling with the two iconic images of a devil on one shoulder whispering in his ear, while on the other shoulder an angel is perched sharing positive and encouraging guidance. "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:15-20. For me, a key concept to point out is Paul admits that he knows what he is supposed to "not" do, but he doesn't do it. We aren't inert beings so it is only reasonable to assume that if we aren't doing the good things we know to do, it may be that we are doing the bad things that we also know we shouldn't be doing.
When the Bible tells us that we must confess our sins to obtain righteousness, (I John 1:9) that isn't just the sins we are doing each day, it also includes the sins of what we are not doing each day. The Ten Commandments plus Jesus' command to love others in the same manner as we love ourselves is pretty inclusive, but it is reasonable to believe that many folks are convinced that as long as they aren't murdering, stealing, cheating, or denying God is our Savior then they are in pretty good salvation shape. I would counter that thought process with the question of what are we not doing for the Kingdom of Christ that we know in our hearts and souls we should be doing each day?
Giving of my time, resources, and self tops my own list of requests for forgiveness. Too often, we get caught up in our own busyness, which leads us to get things out of order when it comes to setting priorities. Forgiving others and loving our neighbor is a called out command, but how many of us want to cast the first stone or point out the splinter in our brother's eye before we self-reflect about our own sins and the proverbial plank in our own eye. The list of "things" we are not doing that we should is extensive, but the core principle remains constant, if we are not doing what we know we should be doing that in itself is sin.
So, what do we do? Well, we need to ensure ourselves that we know what we should be doing first. How do we do that? Spending time in His Word, meditating and praying for God's will to be fulfilled in and through us, and then investing our living out our divine purpose. We know what to do, too often we find ourselves in the same predicament as Paul shared above, yet at the end of the day, our charge is clear. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7. Make the decision to "do" what needs to be done and then do it!
Coach Carter
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