Overcoming Condemnation

I've been reading some of my old journals, and right now I'm in 2005. I read through several entries where I wrote about struggles I conquered but appear to have come back. Ten years later, and I still have some of the same issues!

How can that be? I read about how I learned, confessed, repented, and had periods of awesome peace after the Lord forgave me and healed my brokenness. I truly moved forward as a changed person.

Yet here I am today, still doing the same things. For a few days, I not only felt guilty about today's sins but felt overwhelmed with guilt about past sins. 

Why? Because I took the enemy's bait. He started with truth ("see, you did that same thing ten years ago") and quickly moved to lies ("you haven't changed at all, and it's because you don't try hard enough"...blah, blah, blah). I believed the lies, they sounded so good.

But God!

In His mercy, He stepped in through a wonderful prayer call to expose the lies and get me back on track. As I prayed and pondered, He showed me a few things about overcoming condemnation.

First of all, I need to remember that those forgiven sins of my past are no longer on my account. The enemy brings them up to amplify my current guilt, but God has no record of them. So I need to get out from under condemnation by focusing on the truth, speaking it out loud if necessary to drown out the lies.

Next, I need to remember that there is never going to be a "once and for all" where I never sin again. Do we get stronger in areas and able to resist temptation more easily? Absolutely! But are we ever exempt from falling, sometimes over and over in the same area? Not at all.

So when I sin, I can confess, repent, receive forgiveness and healing, and move forward. I can trust in God's unfailing love, complete forgiveness, and mercies that are new every morning. I can walk forward in victory, an overcomer who receives God's grace by faith.

Or, I can dwell on the past, listen to the condemning lies of the enemy, and live in defeat.

It's always my choice.

Today, I am overcoming condemnation one day, one choice at a time. What about you?