Bread Crumbs – Devotions for Life

The way you handle your sin 

is as important as the sin itself. (1)

A friend came to me recently to let me know how I had hurt them awhile ago.  Since my offense, our relationship had been broken for them, while I thought all was well.

While I had not intended to hurt them, I had.  This is a common everyday event in all relationships.

When a friend points out our sin to us we have the choice of responding in one of two ways.  We can take offense and defend ourselves or we can humble ourselves and graciously apologize.

Our natural tendency is to defend ourselves, especially when we did not mean to offend.  By doing so, we communicate that our friend, who has come to us in love and with wounds, is wrong, unreasonable, and overly-sensitive.

A defensive response not only exasperates the brokenness within the relationship, but causes the the relationship to quickly descend into a downward spiral.

Why do we do this?  I’ll place my money on pride.  I hate being wrong.  I loathe being told I was wrong.  However, I must confess that my friend did me a great favor.

By listening, I learned that I need to be watch my behavior in a specific situation which causes me stress and frustration as a pastor.  While I did not intend to sin, the manner in which I handled myself was offensive.

I am grateful that my friend came to me.  Their compassionate honesty helped to make me a better pastor.

In the end my sin made me a better person.

Paul reminds us,

“We all sin and fall short of the glory of God … the wages of sin is death.” (2)

Sin does not have to lead to a death.

Grace covers the wages of sins.

When sin is handled with a gracious apology, it leads to life.

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1. Blackaby, Richard (2006-12-01). Experiencing God Day By Day (Kindle Location 3115). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

2. Romans 3:23 and 6:23