Dear Friends,

Have you ever made an off-handed remark to a family member that was insensitive but was not intended to create any hurt, but by the end of the day you realize you hadn’t been spoken to very much by this person? You ask, “Are you ok?” They respond, “Why do you need to ask?” From there you begin to hear about what you said, how they took it, and how unkind and insensitive it was. You realize it honestly was unkind, etc., but you meant nothing by it. You were not aware you had done anything unkind or hurtful, but as long as the relationship was broken, your intentions didn’t really matter, did they? The brokenness becomes the point.

The same thing happens in our relationship with God. The Bible says we don’t do the things we would like to do and we do the things we would not like to do. This acknowledges that we don’t usually sit down and think, “How can I disobey God” or “What can I do to hurt His heart?” We are just ourselves, and in being ourselves we sin, break His commandments and disobey Him. When we do it breaks our relationship with Him whether we meant to break it or not.

The Bible describes this spiritual condition as having grieved or quenched the Holy Spirit. His Spirit is not as tender in our hearts and lives as it is at other times. We don’t sense the joy and closeness. We don’t sense His leadership and guidance in our lives. Or you could be reading the Bible and something will jump out at and you’ll realize, “My goodness. Is that what I’ve done to the Lord?  Is that what I’ve done and His heart is hurt?” Whatever causes you to recognize that you’ve done something, instead of excusing yourself or telling God how He should understand, you would be much better off to say, “Lord God, regardless of how I feel about it, I have grieved Your Spirit. I have sinned against You, and I ask for Your forgiveness.” Just as sincere repentance and forgiveness with a family member you have hurt can make an amazing difference in healing, the same is very true for your relationship with God.

I John 1:8 says, “If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  In other words, God is not at all surprised when we sin. That being true, the next verse tells us the rest of the truth. He is very bothered when we sin and if we don’t confess that what we did was a sin and does not please Him, the relationship is grieved. So to be connected to God means you must stay connected. This means dealing successfully with the things we do that break the heart of God. Each of us needs to be a person who confesses and repents quickly and honestly and then trusts and accepts God’s forgiving grace and moves on. God bless you.


Your Pastor,