If you're really honest with yourself, you're a cutter too....

I suppose I should explain what I mean...for those of you who may have never heard the term, a "cutter" is someone who self inflicts injury on themselves, usually by, you guessed it, cutting. We tend to feel pity for these people because they can't find any other way to release their anxieties, frustrations, concerns (and other emotion you can think of!) besides self-inflicted injury.

Ok, let's make a jump here. When we sin, why do we feel bad? and IF we feel bad about it, why is that? It's usually because we feel like we've hurt God, or let Him down, or maybe we feel like that guilty little kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar....BUSTED!

A young man named Elihu in the book of Job would challenge that pre-conceived notion:

⁶ If you sin, how does that affect God?
      Even if you sin again and again,
      what effect will it have on him?
 ⁷ If you are good, is this some great gift to him?
      What could you possibly give him?
 ⁸ No, your sins affect only people like yourself,
      and your good deeds also affect only humans (Job35:6-8)

I read that and I had to stop and think for a second. I have become so arrogant as to assume that my sin impacts God. It doesn't. Not in the way I've always thought anyways. Our sin does not affect his character or countenance, it affects OURS. So...if any argument could be made, it would be that our sin affects God only because we are hurting ourselves and He doesn't want to see His children hurt. He hurts when we do. 


Wait. What? So, I'm actually hurting myself when I sin? Ok, maybe we all ready knew that....and sometimes just choose to ignore it. But when you stop and think anout the fact that we are SELF-INFLICTING pain, hurt, guilt, shame...all those things that sin brings with it upon ourselves.....all I can think about is the pity and sorrow I feel for other people who inflict those things upon themselves and how God must feel towards me at that moment.  

God gives us free will. He gives us the choice over whether or not we are going to choose His way or our own. Whatever choice we make doesn't affect Him. He will continue to love us and be God no matter what we do. His character does not change because we sin. Like any parent though, He doesn't want to see His children hurt or in pain. That's why He gave us the bible, the church community....so we would have support and guidance.

We all sin. But there are times when our sin is a willful choice that we keep repeating. "I know this goes against what God wants for me, but I want to do it/see it/say it." There are definitely a couple areas in my life that immediately come to mind. So, will I stop "cutting" myself? All I need to do is give this willful disobedience over to God. He knows the plans He has for me, and they involve amazing things. He doesn't want me to hurt, He wants me to flourish.

Thoughts?