It’s no shocking revelation to say that the more we let anything deteriorate, the harder it becomes to restore it. This is true for simple, practical things like a sink full of dirty dishes or weeds in a garden, and it’s also true for spiritual things. If we don’t have some sort of maintenance routine for our hearts, then all the things we haven’t tended to- those “little” sins- will begin to interfere with God’s purpose for our lives. Like weeds in a flowerbed, our sins will continue to grow if we try to pretend they are not there. But the truth is we all sin. Consider:
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ... If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. (1 John 1:8, 10 NLT)
And if we let those sins linger because we’re not willing to acknowledge them, they will accumulate and turn into habits of thought or action. So how do we address them? The Bible gives us instruction on this question, and it’s sandwiched right in between the two verses above:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT)
God is able to completely cleanse us of all sin! What an amazing promise! However, without this sort of “spiritual housekeeping” of confessing our sins, they can keep us out of position to do all that God has for us to do.
You can’t be a blessing to others if you haven’t gone before God regularly and repented… When you don’t walk in repentance, things pile up! (excerpt from Walking in Your True Identity Part 1 by Pastor Vondalier Pipkin)
So let’s stay on top of things and go back to God daily, asking Him to show us where we’ve sinned or fallen short so we can get washed clean. It’s so much easier when we don’t let it all pile up!
