For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. —Romans 7:19
Like the apostle Paul, like all of us, my life is lived on the teeter-totter of sin. I want to live righteously, but I don’t. I want to run away from the things God has “forbidden” but find myself running toward them instead. There are times that I can’t help but wonder if God will give up on me. He won’t. He has promised to be “faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). There is no expiration date, no statute of limitations, and no quota of grace God refuses to go past.
Creation isn’t the only tool God uses to reveal who He is (Rom. 1:20). He has graciously given us His Word as a road map to His character. When we use the Bible as the lens to see our sin, we see that though we’re sinful and spiritually weak, God responds to us like He did to our parents in the garden—with compassion.
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Erin Davis, Uncommon Compassion: Revealing the Heart of God (Niles, MI: Revive Our Hearts, 2020)
Scripture taken from The CSB
Make it Personal
When you consider God’s response to your sin, what words come to mind? How does adding “compassion” shift your view of God?