We Fall Down, But He Lifts Us Up

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Don’t ever put the weight of being perfect onto your shoulders. God does not even put that expectation on any of us, so why should we?

Today’s devotional reading: Mark 14:26-28

All of us inevitably sin because sin is in our nature. Should we feel bad about that? Should we feel ashamed that we sin? If you’re a child of God and you don’t feel bad about your sin, I would be concerned.

We feel awful about our sin because of our genuine faith. Knowing how loving and how faithful God is to us truly hurts when we fail to return the same faithfulness to Him. So, what do we do to try to correct the matter? We aim for absolute perfection in how we live.

Jesus told all of the disciples that they would flee and scatter from Him on the night in which He was arrested. Peter fought against the idea that he would ever do such a thing, but he ended up denying Jesus three times. As Christ said, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and inevitably, the flesh will fall into temptation and fail (Matt. 26:41).

Rather than aiming for living flawlessly, might I suggest we aim to live faithfully? You see, faithful living puts trust in God, showing mercy and forgiving one’s sins, rather than holding their sins against them. God gave His only begotten Son so that we sinners can be reconciled and justified in His eyes. God gave His only begotten Son to lift us, not tear us down even further.

Let us always remember that God loved the world and gave His only begotten Son not to condemn us but to save us (John 3:16-17).