According to the Bible, if I love God I’ll naturally want to obey Him. So why do I keep sinning?

It was the day after a jam-packed week of  Camp CeCe.  

I met with my sister to help stage my mom’s house so she could put it on the market. I was facing a time crunch because days later I was due at my youngest daughter’s home for the arrival of my newest grandson.

I was tired, but excited to help my mom market her current home so she could  move into her new one.

 

 

First my sister and I cleaned.

Everything.

Then we took photos, made sign,s and created our online real estate listing.

 

 

Once the house was ready, it was time to help my mom pick out window treatments, rugs, and furniture for her brand new home.

 

A recipe for the wrong attitude

 

My mom doesn’t love making decisions. My sister loves soothing colors, while I love everything that swirls and glitters. Therefore, our decorating sessions are always a little lively.

At a store that specializes in window treatments, we found a huge display of blinds and shades. My eyes glazed over when I spotted a huge pile of sample books.  I had a gut feeling we’d need a knowledgeable sales worker to guide us through the maze of options available to us.

Unfortunately, the sales representative who reluctantly made her way over to us appeared to know almost less than I do about window treatments. On top of that, she had no idea how to locate PRICES. So, she curtly brushed us off and told us to come back five hours later when a second worker would be available.

That’s always my hot button.

Customer service minus the SERVICE.

I should have been more patient. I could have focused on keeping the tone of my voice in check. Or perhaps I should have asked  about her morning in an effort to stir up a little compassion.

I didn’t do any of those things. Instead, I questioned her ability to navigate the window treatment selections and asked for someone who could help.

Dang it.

 

The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.

1 John 2:6

 

Jesus wouldn’t have walked into the window treatment department with the same attitude I had.

 

I love God. So why do I keep sinning?

 

I pretty much blew it. I didn’t exhibit love and patience.  And, even though I didn’t yell or demean or criticize, I could have been kinder. Less frustrated. Friendlier.

As we left the store, I contemplated my behavior and came down hard on myself. And I did what I always do.

I questioned my own heart.

Can I truly love God but act nothing like Him? In other words,  I love God so why do I keep sinning?

 

This is how we know if we know Him: if we keep His commands.

1 John 2:3  Christian Standard Bible

 

Of course I can.

And so can you.

That’s why God made a provision for our failures.

 

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.

1 John 2:1 CSB

 

Loving God doesn’t mean we won’t keep sinning.

 

We will.

Because we’re not perfect.

Only He is.

But loving God does mean we’ll want to be like Him.

That’s why it’ll bother us when we do or say or think something that’s nothing like Him.

Like David in the Bible, loving God is not a matter of never failing. Instead, having a heart for God means we’re sorry when we do fail. Not because we get caught or suffer consequences, but because we know in our hearts we’ve failed the God we love.

Perfection is not necessarily proof that we love God.

But repentance always is.

 

Repentance  means we change our direction

 

We returned to the same store five hours later as  instructed, and the second worker was no more helpful than the first.

But this time I kept my cool. I tried to be friendly. And I reminded myself that even though she was failing at her job, I had failed at mine, too.

 

Little children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

1 John 3:18   New Living Translation

 

The result of repentance

 

The second worker was every bit as as clueless and unhelpful as the first one had been.

But here’s the bottom line:

I wasn’t responsible for her behavior.

I was responsible for my own.

 

Loving God means doing what He tells us to do, and really, that isn’t hard at all; for every child of God can obey Him, defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting Christ to help him. But who could possibly fight and win this battle except by believing that Jesus is truly the Son of God?

1 John 5:3-5  The Living Bible

 

In the end we placed an order for window treatments, but not at that particular store.

We’d lost heart.

But God used our ordeal to remind me of an important truth.

When a Christians says “I love God so why do I keep sinning?” that’s a sign of victory rather than defeat. It means the Holy Spirit (residing in every born-again believer) has performed His wonderful work of conviction in our hearts.

Conviction isn’t used by God to sink us into a sea of guilt and shame. Instead, it’s used to bring us to repentance so we’ll turn away from our sin and back to Christ. And, with every single turn, we get a little bit closer to acting like Jesus.