God's Story Is Our Story: From Acts to New CreationSample

Does believing Christianity change us? How much are we changed? Some Christians think that we are made perfect in this life. They think the only sins a Christian commits are unintentional sins. Other Christians seem to emphasize brokenness and sin and are cynical that Christians can grow.

Early Christians struggled as well in understanding what our relationship with sin should be like. John says that if we think we don't have sin, we are liars. We don't understand how holy God is and how good we were meant to be. We end up excusing, denying, or justifying our sins. We can blame our circumstances or other people that "made" us act a certain way. Or, we think that God did not really mean for us to be that good since that would be unreasonable of him. But, as we get what Jesus has done for us, we are free to admit the sin in our life. We can look at it. We can admit it. We can be sorry about it.

On the other hand, John also tells us that we should strive not to sin. The point isn't to just wallow in the mud but to get back up and try again. We are to actively fight against the sin in our lives. But, we also know we are never going to fully measure up in this life. In the meantime, we can feel okay in that gap as we strive and fall short because we have an advocate who loves despite our sin.