Dealing with sin

  Dealing with our sin is an important part of our walk with Christ.  We start the journey by repentance, because of the faith He has given us (there are many who debate which comes first, faith or repentance, and I’m not really qualified to join that debate other than to recommend, again, The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson).  We continue the journey by repenting as sin in our lives is revealed to us.  Today, though, I’m not really addressing dealing with our own sin.  Today, I have a lot of questions about dealing with other people’s sin.

We all know that the sins of others can affect us, sometimes in very detrimental ways.  Sometimes, we are directly hurt by their sin, whether  physically, like with a drunk driver causing an accident, or emotionally, like with an adult child who chooses rebellion rather than obedience to the Lord.  Sin also has affected creation and means that we have natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, sinkholes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. and also animals and foods that can poison or injure us.  Disease is caused ultimately by sin in the world, although not necessarily by the sin of the person who has the disease.  Sin is the ultimate root of the problems in our world.  Today, though, I’m not really addressing how other people’s sins affect us directly.  Today, I have a lot of questions about helping those we are discipling, like our children, learn to deal with their own sin.

How do we teach repentance, especially to those who didn’t learn it as children?  Is this something we can even teach to those who have not really become true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ yet?  I really struggle with this, mostly because it seems like something that no one really addresses, at least, no one around me.  When I see a church or a Christian school that simply encourages guilt and shame rather than giving people tools to deal with it and move forward with the Lord, that seems so wrong.  (Yes, repentance is something we must choose to do ourselves and we can’t force anyone to repent, so some of the problem is the person’s own choice, but that isn’t really what I’m addressing here.)  Yes, we are all sinful and guilty.  We all have a lot to be ashamed of.  And, yes, we all have to start there to be able to deal with our sin.  But we don’t need to stay there.  God makes it clear throughout His Word that He desires us to be free.  Even in Psalm 51, where David is confessing and repenting of adultery, he knows that God is the one who can and will cleanse him of his sin.  He holds onto hope that God will restore him, and not just restore him, but restore his joy.  Maybe I’ve answered my own questions.  Maybe what we need to do is prayerfully take our children (and others we are discipling) through Psalm 51 because, after all, God is the source of all wisdom (and everything else good).

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