03/23/2025
Do you move along in your life of faith and feel like you are making great strides in sanctity only to have some trivial thing reawaken the old sinful person you used to be? Well, we all have this happen from time to time, and our lives of faith are a constant struggle against our natural selves... so why do we keep falling into this trap, and what can we do to overcome this disappointing behavior?
“for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”
1 Corinthians 3:3 ESV
But just as Paul tells the Corinthians that they are behaving as humans, he gives the Galatians a solution... "Live by the Spirit."
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Galatians 5:16-17 ESV
It sounds so simple doesn’t it? All we must do is live by the Spirit, but then we find ourselves in a crowded parking lot and a car zips into the parking space that we have been patiently waiting for with your turn signal on. Sound familiar? In truth these little happenings catch us off guard and we react to them instinctively without thinking. Have you experienced this or something similar?
Sometimes the big events in our life are a lot easier to control and resist spiritually. They usually happen more slowly and give us time to think them through, but the quick little "flash happenings" don't let us think, and we are left with the disappointment of our spontaneous human response... the cuss word that is out so fast that we are shocked by it, the gesture we gave someone, or perhaps it is just the way something makes us feel and the disappointment in ourselves that it brings.
One winter morning I pulled into the parking lot at work. It had snowed a few days earlier and the lot was rather slick, so I eased slowly into the parking space, stepped out of my car, took one step and fell flat on my back. Instantly I sprang to my feet, and before I could even take a breath, I was looking around to see if anyone had seen me fall. I could have been bleeding or suffering with a broken wrist, but the inner man took over and he was more concerned with not being embarrassed.
"Flash sins" that spring from "flash happenings" are just like that... they happen so fast and automatically that we can't stop them, but they do have an upside! They remind us of who we are beneath the covers. They remind us that despite all of our efforts we are less that a second from our sinful nature. So what do we do? How should we react when this happens to us?
As Christians we shouldn't try to make excuses for our lapses in behavior, we should simply ask those we offend and the Lord for forgiveness. Don't try to fool yourself into believing you were innocent, or that it wasn't your fault, just face the reality of the situation and take it to God. Let the Lord help you overcome that obstacle which has tripped you up on your way to perfect sanctification. Acknowledge the fact that you still harbor the memory of the old man inside you, and deal with that reality by confessing what you have just done and by asking for forgiveness.
Some of us have lived longer than others in this sinful world, and several of us have lived closer to the many old daily sins of that past; all of which have given these things, and sins, more opportunity to become habitual, and deeply ingrained in us. Yet, regardless of their depth, they are unacceptable and must be surfaced and dealt with. We might think we are sanctified, but despite all of our prayers of confession, our baptism, and the unending effort to change our lives, there is still work to do.
So when we find myself looking around the parking lot of sin let’s thank God for showing us that not only do we have a ways to go, but we should thank Him for allowing us to ask His help in dealing with the remnants of unconquered sins inside us. Every "flash sin" brings us closer to sanctification if we will just hand it to the Lord and say "forgive me" and then "help me Father." Are we ready to face our flash sins and then go and sin no more? What will we do when that same ugly piece of our old self surfaces again? We acknowledge it, ask and pray for forgiveness and then continue our walk of faith with Jesus once again with a bit more resolve.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:9-10 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the "flash happenings" that expose the "flash sins" I wouldn't see in myself otherwise, and in their aftermath I thank you for hearing my confession and plea for forgiveness. Jesus, in the moments when my conscious mind gives way to the eruption of my humanity, I am embarrassed before you and hide my face, but in you I find intercession and help in overcoming these sins. You are my hope when I find myself lost in the instant emotional outbursts of anger, jealousy, or pride, and you cleanse me from it with your precious blood. Holy Father continue to reveal my shortcomings, and lead me in your Word, and by your Son, to claim righteousness and freedom from the flash emotions that lay hidden just beneath the surface of my faith rooted in my humanity... even those which are hidden from my conscious self. Help me to overcome these sins as I find them Father, and perfect me a little more each time I am confronted by one of them. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us, desires us to be perfected, and helps us to navigate our sinfulness through the living example and cleansing blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Holy are you who is merciful and full of grace as you forgive us! Praised be your name and let the recovery from each sin and flash sin that we encounter and confess in our lives, serve to glorify you as we are forgiven for them, and go forth making every effort to sin no more.
AMEN!
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:8-10 ESV
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Psalm 51:1-3 ESV
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Romans 3:23-24 ESV
Rich Forbes