{"id":319,"date":"2010-08-03T09:02:56","date_gmt":"2010-08-03T09:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2010\/08\/why-im-not-so-afraid-of-sin-anymore.html"},"modified":"2010-08-03T09:02:56","modified_gmt":"2010-08-03T09:02:56","slug":"why-im-not-so-afraid-of-sin-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/08\/why-im-not-so-afraid-of-sin-anymore.html","title":{"rendered":"Why I’m Not So Afraid of Sin Anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"prodigalson.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The older I’ve gotten, the scarier the word sin has become.
\nSome of that has been my growing understanding that this Christian concept of
\nsin is a complicated one. But some of my fear over the word sin is because I
\njust don’t like the idea that I, and everyone else I know, are in desperate
\nneed of forgiveness. But what if its true? What if I do need forgiveness? What
\nif I won’t be a whole human being unless I know the forgiveness of God? Well,
\nthen I probably need to understand sin.<\/p>\n

Psalm 51<\/a> was written after David recognizes his sin in
\ncommitting adultery with Bathsheba and then arranging for her husband’s murder.
\nIt helps me think about my own sin and need in three ways: <\/p>\n

I need to recognize my sin<\/p>\n

I need to remember God’s love<\/p>\n

I need to receive God’s healing and restoration<\/p>\n

This Psalm wouldn’t exist unless David recognized his sin.
\nWhen he first slept with Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered, he didn’t recognize
\nhis offense. Only when the prophet Nathan confronted him did David recognize
\nthe extent of his wrongdoing. So that’s the first step–acknowledging our sin
\nand the impact it has on other individuals and our community. <\/p>\n

But before David launches even talks about the extent of his
\nsin, he remembers God’s love.<\/p>\n

The Psalm begins: <\/p>\n

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;<\/i><\/p>\n

according to your great compassion blot out my
\ntransgressions.”<\/i><\/p>\n

In other words, David asks God to see his (David’s) sin in
\nlight of God’s love, not in light of the Ten Commandments or the other legal
\nand moral codes spelled out for God’s people. David has failed utterly by any
\nmoral or legal standard. But God loves David. God continues to love David with
\n“unfailing love” and “great compassion.” God sees our sin in light of God’s
\nlove for us.<\/p>\n

Which leads to the final point. The point of acknowledging
\nsin is not that we would beat ourselves up and feel bad about ourselves
\nforever. The point of acknowledging sin is that once we acknowledge it, we can
\nbe forgiven, healed, cleansed, restored. God can “blot out” our trangressions
\nand “cleanse” us. God can “create a pure heart,” even for David, an adulterer,
\na murderer. And then, once we know that liberating forgiveness and cleansing,
\nGod sends us out to offer the same grace and forgiveness and healing and
\nredemption to others. <\/p>\n

So I’m trying not to be so afraid of sin. But instead to see
\nit in myself for what it is: an offense against God, yes. But also a wound in
\nmy soul that inhibits me from experiencing fullness of life and fullness of
\nlove for other people. <\/p>\n

Show me my sin, Lord.<\/i><\/p>\n

Forgive and heal me, according to your great love.<\/i><\/p>\n

And send me forth to love others.<\/i><\/p>\n

Amen.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The older I’ve gotten, the scarier the word sin has become. Some of that has been my growing understanding that this Christian concept of sin is a complicated one. But some of my fear over the word sin is because I just don’t like the idea that I, and everyone else I know, are in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I'm Not So Afraid of Sin Anymore - Thin Places<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/08\/why-im-not-so-afraid-of-sin-anymore.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I'm Not So Afraid of Sin Anymore - Thin Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The older I’ve gotten, the scarier the word sin has become. 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Two major life experiences have shaped her writing and her faith\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcaring for her mother-in-law as she battled cancer and welcoming her daughter Penny into the world after she was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome. Both experiences expanded and enriched her understanding of what it means to be human and to receive each and every person as a gift.\u00c2\u00a0 A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she is the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and the forthcoming A Good and Perfect Gift (Bethany House). Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}