Concern about lack of grievance over sin

fishmansf · Jun 25, 2020

First I should state that I’m not sure if this is the right thread but seemed most fitting.

I’ve been a Christian for about three or four years but I am struggling big time on my faith due to a somewhat lack of grievance of my sin. I know feeling ≠ truth but it still impacts my relationship with Christ. I know the truth is that I’m a sinner and I am fully aware of it, see it, and feel it daily. I know this because of what the Bible says about man and I always use Ray Comforts “are you a good person” test and I know I have wronged God and have separated myself from Him. But I know through the death of His Son that I have a repaired relationship with Him. I have the doctrine of atonement down but the issue is that I still feel like my heart is far from God because of my lack of grievance of sin. I am still convicted of my sin and I see the Spirit convict me of sin on a daily basis but it’s always sort of a “oh no, here I go sinning again” but not a truly grieved state of mind. I’ve prayed time and time again that the Spirit would just slap me with conviction, I truly want to weep and wail over my sin like the Bible says we should do, but then have overwhelming joy that the Lord has paid the price for my sin! But I lack that grievance; I know I’ve done wrong but there is little true grievance over my wronging of God. I know that no one but God can fix this but does anyone have scripture that God has given them for this kind of issue?

Dansiph · Jun 25, 2020

I have been reading a Prayer book called The Valley of Vision. I know you have been praying but I thought you might get some inspiration from this prayer: https://banneroftruth.org/uk/devotional/yet-i-sin/

I was going to underline some of it which I thought would help most but I can't because I don't have permission to post the prayer itself here. I think the fact this is a famous prayer which is asking God to cause grief for sin shows it's an issue you are not alone in.

Lastly a Bible verse. Paul's words in Romans 7:24 KJV
(24) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Romans 7 would probably be a good chapter to read as a whole actually.

Phil W · Jun 25, 2020

With 2 Cor 7:10 in mind..."For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."...your sorrow seems to be of this world.
Repentance is a turn from sin, permanently and totally.
Anything else is not a "turn from" sin, but just an interval between reoccurances of sin.
Keep 1 Cor 10:13 in mind..."There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
The escapes are always there.
Sometimes it is as simple as just saying "NO".

Dansiph · Jun 25, 2020

I just remembered the famous Psalm 51 also. Hope it helps.

tryphena rose · Jun 25, 2020

Looking at my own personal walk with Christ, as well as my husband's, what can commonly fall upon believers is a sense of apathy. Sometimes this apathy can be very strong and hard to fight against. When we grow too comfortable with hearing the Truth, sometimes we can become almost desensitized to it, which of course is never good. Like you stated, feeling is over truth, but it can be very challenging to get a hold of our emotions. I find in times of apathy towards Christ, I've pulled farther from Christ; my walk generally will lack in prayer and leaning on God to guide my steps. Instead, I would choose the path I wanted to walk and kind of left God in the background. When I came to terms with this, it was almost hard to admit, because of course, none of us who profess Christ would want to admit to being a lukewarm Christian.

My advice would be to really surrender yourself to prayer, even if you don't feel it, grow yourself in discipline. Try to think on the things of Christ all day. Keep scriptures in your mind and thank Him every chance you get. Now this doesn't come without struggle, as in fact I still have my own challenges with this, but once you get into a rhythm or routine, the Holy Spirit will really begin to move in your mind, heart and spirit. I'll leave you some scriptures here which really have helped me during such times in my walk as well as a song. My husband isn't one to cry much over anything, but this song really brought him to tears. The band had wrote it specifically to help others battle apathy we Christians may face and have taken the words directly from Jesus during His crucifixion. It's very powerful and I pray it touches your heart as it's touched ours. God bless you brother. You'll be in our prayers. :prayer:

"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" Isaiah 55:6

"While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation (meaning rebellion)." Hebrews 3:15

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

I also recommend meditating on the whole of Isaiah 53 and Ecclesiastes 12.

Lion of Judah - Open My Eyes

fishmansf · Jun 25, 2020

Thank you so much! I have been making sure I’m not lacking or ignoring my relationship with God and spending plentiful time with Him and seeking Him. Jesus said “ask and you shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. David also talks about how he waited patiently for the Lord
So that’s what I’m doing, waiting patiently on Him and knowing His promise to us that for those who seek, ask, and knock for the Holy Spirit will receive Him. I like what you said about discipline too! Thank you sister! God bless you and your family!

Duke of Stratford · Jun 26, 2020

There’s actually a really good Charles Spurgeon sermon on an issue similar to this. Spurgeon doesn’t go easy on sin, but he’s also very comforting and encouraging for people who are struggling: The Spurgeon Center

Honestly, the fact you’re concerned is a good thing! But I don’t think we should rely on feelings to dictate our repentance. I hope you can grow in grievance toward sin in a healthy way. There’s always room to grow!

Aussie Pete · Jun 26, 2020

The only people who need to weep and wail over sin are the ones who are complacent and self satisfied. If you are convicted, that is enough. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. When you are repentant, God is satisfied. As 2 Corinthians 7:10 says,

"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death."

Plenty of people bemoan their fate, worry about their situation and wallow in self pity. For some who call themselves Christians, I sometimes wonder what happened to the joy of their salvation?

The conscience is the inner monitor that convicts us when we sin. The precious blood of Lord Jesus cleanses our conscience as soon as we confess. When God forgives, He forgets. What right have we to keep on beating ourselves up? God is far happier if we sin (He knows that we will), confess and get on with living.

Have you asked yourself why the Holy Spirit does not "slap you with conviction"? If it would do you any good, for sure He would. You know you are a sinner. You confess when you sin. You also need to know that you are a new creation in Christ, justified, sanctified, and glorified. Too many Christians live in spiritual poverty because they've yet to appreciate the riches God gave us in Christ.

A while an elderly woman in an elite suburb passed away. She was the odd one out. She dressed shabbily, did not look after herself properly and appeared to be poor. When her estate was examined, she was found to be rich. She could have lived like a princess. The Christian's riches are spiritual. They include love, joy, peace, contentment, forgiveness, acceptance by God, deliverance, power over sin, freedom from condemnation and much more. When we focus on God's riches in Christ, a funny thing happens. Sin begins to lose its hold on us. We are stronger in the inner man and better able to resist temptation. I remember still waking up one day to being not under a constant black cloud of condemnation. I'd been learning who I was in Christ. It was a blessed day and I never want to go back to that place.

Job3315 · Jun 26, 2020

Find the root cause of your sin and start from there. Sometimes we are just using the wrong tools; like using aspirin to treat cancer. Sometimes sin, like inappropriate content, alcoholism or certain addictions have a chemical release in the brain that causes you to seek more of it, so its not necessarily only your soul asking for it. Once you understand the physiological aspect of your sin as well as the soul's involvement, just work a plan with God to conquer it. You know you want to change and you already repented, that's a big step.

One time I heard a teacher say that if you are born again then God doesn't see you as a sinner, but as a son who struggles with a sin and is on its way to transformation. We must see ourselves as God sees us. God died for something He values very much; His own creation. He also said to repeat, "I am God's righteousness" even as you are sinning. The idea is for your body and soul to catch up with the reality of your new born spirit; we must renew our minds to our new truth in Jesus. Sometimes we mist believe we are who He says we are even if all the evidence tells us otherwise.

Jeshu · Jun 26, 2020

We can know the truth and we can love the truth. When we know the law intellectually but there is no power in us to repent of it yet, we need love, His Spirit to do that.

When you sit down and ponder on the pain Jesus now, in the past, and in the future, goes through each time you sin, then you will begin to feel sorry for your sins sooner or later.

However i could never stop my sins either, but unlike you and i was cut to the heart by them, but i still lacked the will to stop for i feared Jesus for His wrath more than i loved Him for His grace. It wasn't until i began to love Jesus for his grace over me the fallen sinner that i began to understand His love for me and repenting of my sins began soon after that.

Love for God knows no deliberate sin, honestly true.

fishmansf · Jun 26, 2020

I think sometimes, its hard to stir affections for Jesus when there’s nothing to admonish him for. If we are miserable and heart broken in our sin our affections And joy for Christ are a hundred fold because we know that he has set us free from that sin. That’s the reason I want to be slapped with conviction, to be able to see, as Todd Friel says, how horrible for a sinner I am and how good of a savior Jesus is.

Aussie Pete · Jun 26, 2020

I'm not advocating for overlooking sin. By nature I am melancholic. I am naturally inclined to depression, to be critical, judgemental, perfectionist and pessimistic. I used to wallow in self pity for my sin, thinking that I was being humble. I was self deceived. I am no better, and importantly, no worse than anyone else. I delight in the salvation that Lord Jesus bought for me. I rejoice in His goodness. I can't be depressed about something and be full of joy at the same time. I tried. It doesn't work. It's also unattractive to sinners. God invites us to quit looking at ourselves and look to Jesus instead. When Jesus died on the cross, the believer died with Him. Go to the cross, see yourself dead. Go to the tomb, see yourself buried. Jump on your grave! You died! Who cares how good, bad or indifferent you were! If we are not careful, we will dig up the old, dead thing and spend our lives wondering how to fix it up. No, God's remedy is simple. Kill the old you and raise you up to be a new creation in Christ. That's what gets me going each day.

JimR-OCDS · Jul 13, 2020

For myself, when I came to understand that God the Father, didn't send Jesus into the world to change his mind about human beings, but rather, he sent Jesus to change human minds about God.

In other words, we were already sinners long before Jesus came, yet God showed his mercy through Jesus Christ.

Focus on Him, not on sin

Salvation isn't about sin management, but a mystical reality of God's mercy and forgiveness.

The Psalms speak of God's mercy and forgiveness throughout.

Concern about lack of grievance over sin

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