Sometimes, I feel as though I need to constantly ask God for forgiveness. Every negative thought I have creates stress and anxiety and I struggle with immense feelings of guilt. This can of course, create very real anxiety. Does this ever happen to you?
I ask if you’ve ever felt this kind of anxiety knowing that in truth, many Christians do. Its not all that uncommon that we struggle with constantly being good — always conscious of how we act and what we say and do. If we make a mistake and are mean to another person, or if we perhaps tell a little white lie, we become consumed with the notion that we have sinned — very often, we stop what we’re doing to pray for forgiveness.
Many Christians, myself included, worry that perhaps God is writing down and keeping track of all of our transgressions. We worry that we have let Him down and that there’s a master list of every misdeed that one day we will have to account for. And perhaps on some level, perhaps we will. But, we do know that God loves us and we know that our sins can and indeed are forgiven through Christ. If we accept Jesus as our Savior and we confess our sins and we seek forgiveness, making every heartfelt effort to repent, we are then saved. Knowing this though,we sometimes just can’t shake the worry that no matter how hard we try, every mistake is being recorded and our entry to Heaven seems in peril.
While these worries are not uncommon, they very well may be totally misplaced. When we truly believe in, trust and love God and we have a true faith that Jesus is our Savior, then we are really meant to take refuge and rest in God’s perfect love for us. Our faith means that we are supposed to be filled with joy and our lives should be transformed into ones of serenity and hope. So what about that feeling of guilt that we have somehow let God down and that we’re meant to always worry over every little “sin” and minor transgression?
That question is the big one. Some Christians may dismiss these fears and say that once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and we’ve confessed our sins, we are done and have nothing left to do. But not so fast…because on the other hand, perhaps our regret about every little transgression means that we are in truth, good people who strive to do good, be good, think good and above all, please God. That to me doesn’t sound like an issue.
What could be the issue though, is if we are always worried that every mistake or misstep puts our eternal souls in jeopardy, we aren’t living our best life — we’re ruminating and worrying and not truly experiencing the freedom that comes from forgiveness through Jesus Christ. And that is where I think the compromise comes in.
The Bible teaches us that man is sinful and that sin prevents us from entering the Kingdom of God, but through Christ, we can be cleansed of our sins because Jesus paid the price for our sins. If we truly accept Christ as our Savior and we seek forgiveness, we need not worry about every little misstep in life, fearful that God is keeping score. But by being mindful of how we act, think and speak, we are making the effort to stay on course, but we can’t let that consume us — we should be aware of our behavior, ask for forgiveness and repent. But should we stress over it? No, I don’t believe we should, because ultimately, God knows our heart and nothing is hidden from God.
In Psalm 103:12, the Bible tells us “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” This beautiful passage is about the absolute nature of God’s forgiveness. He does not forgive us a little and He doesn’t keep recording every little misstep or transgression, because He forgives all or our sins, because Jesus Christ died on the Cross so that we may be fully forgiven.
This passage tells us that the sins are forgiven and we are cleansed, so we should now go forth and live a life of peace, serenity and joy, taking comfort in God’s love and knowing that we can have eternal life because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
God says, in Hebrews 1o:17 “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” God is telling us that He will forgive us and we should therefore take refuge in Him and live without fear because He has told us to.
So what do we do? Well, each of us has a personal relationship with God, so we each have to work through this directly. But for me, in my opinion, we could start by doing the following:
Truly and passionately accept Jesus as our Savior. Be reborn in Christ and follow His teachings and live life the way He teaches us to.
Love God above all. No one and nothing is greater or more important than God the Father. Love Him with all of your heart.
Live a life that is always centered on love: Love your fellow man. Be kind and gentle. Be generous. Help others and never hurt them. Don’t judge, because it is not our place to judge. Accept that God is in control and His will be done.
Give to the widows and orphans. Help the less fortunate. Be welcoming. Forgive others. Repent of sin.
And finally, we should always be concerned about what is a true sin and making sure we don’t committing those sins; knowing the difference between a simple misstep or minor transgression vs. an actual sin is vital. God is kind and He has a pure love for us all. And rather than always asking for forgiveness every single time we have a bad thought or we commit a minor transgression, we should seek forgiveness during our nightly prayers. I don’t thik God wants us to always be stressed, especially over what are often trivial matters.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” – John 14:12
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” – John 7:24
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 2:3-5
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – 1 John 2:15
