Source
For today’s #steemchurch post, I would like to talk about having a contrite heart and returning to the creator after we have offended him or also if we have been offended.
First off, as Christians, we should understand that we have no power of our own to overcome sin, we only can through the grace of God.
The knowledge of this will help us understand that we cannot fight the flesh through our own strength but only by the grace of the Almighty.
So what then are we to do after we have sinned??
First off, we have to understand what we have done, and know that it is wrong.
In Psalm 51:5- “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me”, this is David’s way of accepting his wrongdoing and knowing fully that he has offended God, he had such a deep sense of wrong that he had done such that he related it to his conception.
No wonder God said that he was a man after his own heart. We can clearly tell from here that David knew fully well that he was wrong and he was deeply sorry for it. This is the first step in having a true act of contrition.
Then with a humble and contrite heart, we must affirm never to do it again.
Psalm 51:10- “Create in me a clean eart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation, and make me willing to obey you.”
Source
This just goes to explain a true act of contrition. It goes to show us that we must desire more than anything to wash ourselves clean of such transgressions. This is what makes it genuine, the desire to want to change and a conscious effort to change. So like the psalmist, we should also strive to run back to God after we must have offended him.
We should avoid things or people or locations that we know caused us to sin against God.
This is more like a bonus point. For this one, we must be mindful of the company we keep, and also where we are at any point in time. This goes a long way to help us stay in the grace of God.
Thanks for reading and God bless.