James 4:8b-10 — Well... this got sad quick...

READ THIS: James 4:8b-10

8b Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
 
WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Well, that got heavy pretty fast... Sinners? Double-minded? Grieve? Mourn? Gloom?

Remember what we learned yesterday about how God wants us to be in an exclusive relationship with Him and only Him? Well, these verses that seem harsh actually show us how we can get closer to God and have that relationship! If we want to be closer to God, it starts with us leaving sin in the past and being clean, but we can't leave sin behind us until we do a few things first:

  • Grieve, mourn and wail: We need to recognize that sin hurts us, and that we should actually feel sorry for the mistake(s) we made!
  • Laughter to mourning, joy to gloom: We can't treat sin like it's a joke or something light that isn't a big deal... sin also breaks God's heart and can hurt others, so we need to treat it seriously.
  • Humble yourselves: We have to see that we can't fix sin on our own, but instead that we need God's help!

James says that if we can do all of these things, the Lord "will lift you up." Yes, this passage was heavy, but so is sin! So let's ask God to help us leave sin in the past so we can experience real joy with Him.


THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Have you ever accidentally not taken sin seriously? Are there some sins that you can sometimes see as "not that bad?"

2. Do you ever think that you can handle sin all by yourself? Or get out of the trouble sin causes us?

 
TRY THIS:

While God wants us to leave sin behind us, the enemy loves to make us remember our sins and not forgive ourselves! Once you've gone to Jesus about something you've fallen short with this week, take some time for YOU to forgive yourself!

Comments

  1. YoooonahFebruary 7, 2023 at 4:26 AM

    I think one sin I often overlook, is lying. I’ll lie about homework or something and not feel that bad about it

    ReplyDelete

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