Our Mistakes Are Forgivable

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
—Romans 6:23

Even though mistakes are inevitable, the good news is that our mistakes are forgivable. No matter what we have done, our mistakes can be forgiven by God.

Have you ever wondered why we consistently slip up, mess up, and screw up in life? There’s a simple, one-word answer–sin. In God’s eyes, to sin is to miss the bull’s-eye of God’s perfect plan for your life. We all fail to hit the bull’s-eye of God’s plan for our marriages, for our careers, for our finances, for our parenting, for every area of life. We all fall short of God’s ideal.

What is it that makes us always fall short? The Bible has the answer: “Through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Because of Adam’s sin our bodies are now contaminated with sin, and because of that we are habitually drawn to mess-ups in life. We continually fall short of God’s plan because each of us has inherited a body that is filled with sin. You can say, “It’s not fair.” But that’s the fact. We have a choice about what we can do with these sinful bodies we are born with. We can say to God, “I’ll just stay in my current state and take my chances.” The Bible says if we do that we will die not just physically but also eternally. Or we can choose to accept God’s free gift of salvation.

If we want to stay in our current condition of sin, we can–and we will experience eternal separation from God. But God has made an offer to us. Even though He is not responsible for our sin, He has offered to pay the cost of our sin. And that’s why He sent Jesus to die for us. Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sins, but He offers to make us brand-new people from the inside out. Jesus offers us a new beginning if we are willing to accept His payment.

It may seem unfair that we have to suffer the consequences for Adam’s sin, but it is even more unfair that Jesus suffered the consequences for our sin. Yet He was willing to do that.

Do you know why God offers to forgive us our sins and give us a brand-new being and a fresh start? Grace.

Grace has been defined in many different ways, but I love this definition of grace: “Grace is God’s burst of undeserved generosity.” That’s the kind of God we serve. One who loves us. One who understands that our mistakes are inevitable, but He also says they are forgivable.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “The Curtain Doesn’t Come Down When You Mess Up” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2016.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.