For many Christians, one area we all battle is self-condemnation. Especially for very sincere Christians, this is a problem. For example, if one day we didn’t get time to read the Bible we feel condemned. Some other time self-condemnation may come because we have not disciplined our children with grace but rather with anger or if we have spoken angrily with our spouse. Instead of setting things right immediately we tend to brood over our failures. I remember an instance where a young brother didn’t come to church on a Sunday. After the meeting when I called him to enquire; he said he was angry with himself and so didn’t attend the meeting. He was inflicting a punishment upon himself. Is this God’s way for us? Definitely not! It is important that we read the Bible, that we discipline our children with grace, that we speak kind words to our spouse and other such things; but at the same time God doesn’t want us to live a life of self-condemnation inflicting some punishment on ourselves.
In 1 John 1:9 we read, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” A believer falling into sin can be compared to a cat. A cat is not willing to fall into dirt or a ditch, but it can occasionally fall. But it doesn’t enjoy the dirt but will try to jump out and quickly cleanse itself. We should remember the promise of God that if we confess our sins, He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We know what happened to Peter. Jesus warned Peter that he would deny Jesus. But Peter did exactly the thing of which Jesus had warned him –he denied Jesus 3 times. It is mentioned in Luke 22:61 that the Lord turned and looked at Peter. What would have been the way that Jesus looked at Peter? Was it in in a condemning way? It could never be. Jesus looked at him with love, compassion and hope. Peter went and wept bitterly. We know from the restoration of Peter that his weeping was not one of condemnation rather one of genuine repentance. It is good for us to ask ourselves if we have such a reaction when we fall in sin. The opposite of this is what happened to Judas – he condemned himself and committed suicide. In 2 Corinthians 7:9 there is an expression, “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance”. So there is a sorrow that will lead to repentance. We shouldn’t miss this sorrow.
I once came across a video of a little girl who used to memorize Bible verses and longed to have a Bible of her own. When her grandmother came to know of this, she gifted the little girl a Bible on her birthday. The little girl was surprised and was in tears because she thought that as a little girl she was undeserving to own a Bible. Sometimes we are also like this girl and think we don’t deserve forgiveness or justification. One danger in self-condemnation is that it sucks out all joy from our lives and live in gloom. In Romans 14:22 we read, “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” There was a period in my life where every day I used to condemn myself and lived in such misery. Even if I used to come to the meetings, I used to condemn myself saying that this life is not for me, I am not like others – my background, my upbringing, my trials are all different and so I can’t live like what I heard. At that time this verse spoke to me. Condemnation is not something that God wants us to do and it will steal our happiness. Even if you have fallen, ask forgiveness by all means but don’t condemn yourself. Please don’t fall into this pit of condemnation. In Romans 8:31 we read, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” We must always remember this that God is on our side against the devil. In verse 33 we read, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.” We must always remember this that it is God who justifies. Nobody has a right to condemn us – not the devil, not ourselves nor any other human being. In verse 34 we read, “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” May God free us completely from all condemnation. If we fall, we can repent and set it right with God and others but never condemn ourselves.
Sometimes the devil also condemns us. We see an example of this in Zechariah 3. In verse 1 we read, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.” This is Satan’s nature – accusing the children of God. Joshua was wearing filthy garments. Our good works are like filthy garments. Some days when we do good we feel accepted by God and find comfort in our good works. But our own goodness will not save us. When we are in Christ, we will naturally do good works but it is not those good works that will save us. We see God’s response, “Remove the filthy garments from him. See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” This is God’s nature – He is waiting to justify us. God is the one who makes us righteous. In Revelation 12:10 we read, ““Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.” This is the devil – ceaselessly accusing the brethren. God is on our side to make us righteous. In verse 11 we read, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” This is how a born again believer can have victory over the accusation of the devil. In Hebrews 7:25 we read of how Jesus is interceding for us day and night and thus neutralizing the accusation of the devil.
In Zephaniah 3:17 we read an expression of the heart of God. God is rejoices over us, His heart is excited when He thinks of His children. We human beings learn to appreciate them and take pride in them. How much more God for His children. It says that God will rejoice over His children with shouts of joy. In another version it is written that God secretly plans for His children – just like parents plan birthdays secretly for their children. May God really to live meditation on how God is thinking of us not believing the lies of the devil. That is how we can live with confidence instead of trying to make us acceptable by doing some good works. It is only the blood of Christ that justifies us and He accepts us just as we are. God wants us to live a confident Christian life. The Bible says that God is the lifter of our head. He is our Encourager.
In Isaiah 58:11 we read, “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” We all pass through some times of spiritual dryness and we just don’t feel like it. We can’t live the Christian life with our feelings. The Bible says that the just shall live by faith. Even if we don’t feel like it, we have to live in the faith of God’s love for us. God will satisfy our need when we feel scorched. God wants us to be like a watered garden refreshing and encouraging others. When our life is like a watered garden, we can nourish others. May God help us to live a genuine life seeking the righteousness from God and the forgiveness that is so freely available even when we fall. Don’t try to hide our mistakes but seek forgiveness and have a clear conscience. May God really help all of us!
