I had a conversation with an awesome gentleman on our Freedom From Addictive Behaviors Advanced Webinar this evening; he kept saying he believed God's truth but just doesn't comprehend it or really get it in his life? I wonder if that is true for you? Perhaps the issue is your underlying assumptions on the idea of "victory". If you assume that "getting it" or "comprehending it" means that you will not often fail, and thus every time you fail you obviously never "got it", you have misunderstood the concept of God's grace and freedom. If we try to measure our faith, love or even comprehension of the truth by our wins, losses or other behavioral means, we have not yet grasped the grace of God. Now, I'm all for winning and seeing results in our behavior, that's awesome, but we often find the true measure of understanding God's grace and victory in the midst of our failure.
When you fail, do you confess your sinfulness often in tears of regret? Do you tell God or yourself that you want to be victorious? I really believe those behaviors are evidence of old, legalistic, performance-minded thinking (although nothing wrong with feeling sad when you blow it). Are you victorious in the midst of your sin? The answer is yes! Are you still holy and righteous as you make wrong choices leading up to a major failure? The answer is yes! Your true identity is still in tact; Christ and His love and omnipotence are still residing in you. He loves you before, during and after your sin. How? All of that stuff was taken care of at the cross...every last bit of it past, present and future. You can't get any more forgiven than you are right now. So, how are you defining victory? Is victory a function of your behavior or a function of Christ? If a function of your behavior, you believe victory is "winning" or at worst, "not failing" and it is up to you to "get it". If victory is a function of Christ, it is already done and already yours as a gift of His grace (your behavior has nothing to do with it). You don't need to struggle and strive to get what you already have "in Christ", and His victory is already yours! Our job is to unwrap and experience His victory in our daily walk.
“but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 15:57 NAS95)
(1 Corinthians 15:57 NAS95)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
(Philippians 4:6 NAS95)
(Philippians 4:6 NAS95)
So, when you do fail, thank God for His grace and forgiveness. Thank God the He is your victory and strength. Don't overanalyze the situation...your "failure", which God knew ahead of time by the way, is most often the result of believing a lie to meet a perceived or quite possibly real need instead of trusting Christ Who is your life. Real victory is knowing that you are already victorious no matter how you feel or even behave. As you begin to understand and accept His truth, your behavior will slowly line up consistent with the truth you are now believing. Of course, when you do screw up (and you will), you're now secure in His love, grace and forgiveness realizing that old thinking and believing doesn't really fit the new you. You can simply fail, forward faster as I call it...you move on knowing His love NEVER changes. Now, that does NOT mean you "make light" of sin, you simply make a big deal of God's grace through Christ on the cross.
