Have you ever faced the difficulty of moving on from a past mistake that keeps haunting you? If so, then you know how condemnation kills the joy that the Lord gives you.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we humans are prone to committing mistakes every now and then. The Bible clearly states that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Because of this, no man can ever live perfectly without mistake.
Although mistakes are normal, the haunting condemnation that comes after committing sin easily robs us of our God-given joy. And without this joy, we will never live the way God wants us to live. After all, "the joy of the Lord is [our] strength" (see Nehemiah 8:10).
Are you having difficulty overcoming the hangover of past mistakes? Here are three things that you can do to help you regain your joy in the Lord.
1) Repent of your sin
Have you already repented of the sin that you committed? If not, then repent of it. Unconfessed sin cannot be forgiven, and when sin remains unconfessed before the Lord, you can surely expect condemnation to knock at your door.
Worried that God will not forgive your sin? Don't. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Admit your sins to the Lord who will graciously forgive you and help you be free from unrighteousness.
2) Let go of past mistakes
Most of us would probably want to turn back time so that we can undo the things we have done. However, we can't. We can only let go of them.
Past mistakes are like zombies that come to feed on you whenever they can. Satan's work is to "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10a) -- he will keep reminding you of the wrong things that you've done so that he can steal your joy, kill your enthusiasm for God, and destroy your future.
Remember that if you've already repented of that mistake and asked for the Lord's forgiveness, He will never charge it against you. When God forgives your sin, He throws them into the deepest part of the sea (see Micah 7:19), far too deep for you to reach. He also wants you to "forget the former things" (Isaiah 43:18) so that you can see the new things that He is doing in your life.
3) Enjoy the freedom that Christ has bought for you
Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:1 that "[i]t is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Learn from past mistakes but rejoice that you can be forgiven of them. And importantly, enjoy the freedom that comes from the truth that you have been forgiven. Heaven is rejoicing when one sinner repents, so don't spend another day torturing yourself about something Jesus has already released you from.
