Who Could Stand?

"If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness..." Psalm 130:3-4

In a world full of finger pointing and blame games it is so easy to forget our own record of sins over the course of our own lives. We see the actions of others through the eyes of our own interpretation and become jury, judge and executioner. We approach certain people and situations looking down our noses rehearsing how we would do if differently, make better decisions, choose to hold onto bitterness, etc... Sometimes the ones we love most get our worst treatment. What right do we have to keep a record of the sins of others? When the God of the universe throws out His list of our wrongdoings once we repent who are we to keep a list of the sins of others? '..he doesn't treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our inequities...so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.' Psalm 103:10-12. By keeping a mental list of those who we refuse to forgive, we enter into a partnership with Satan. He will use any bitterness and judgmentalness to weaken and dilute our testimonies.

By the same token, he will use any past sin in our own lives to control and shame us. Satan is relentless with all sins...past, present and future. He knows our tendencies of sin and weakness and will use all of our circumstances to arrange a blueprint of temptation. We cannot give Satan an inch in our miles of past sins. We must choose to believe God when He says our sins, once repented, are cleansed at the base of the cross because of His Son.

Satan will resurrect and exploit the sins of our past. When our lives show a desire and passion to walk in righteousness through Christ, Satan's temptation may dwell more on our past sins. I am sure that all of us at some point have felt the cleansing of the Holy Spirit once we have humbly come to God for His forgivenss, only to be taunted, teased and reminded by Satan at a later date. He keeps meticulous records of our wrongdoing and brings them to our mind when we are at our lowest.

Give Satan an inch and he will take a mile! Choose to believe God for His complete forgiveness.