When I was young, I was under the impression that even a Christian who sinned was doomed to hell. I grew up in the hellfire and damnation era, and many preachers seemed to be trying to scare you into obedience. And those who veered off course were often times humiliated by being pointed out to the church. It made it appear to those watching and listening that Christianity was far too difficult, and that acceptance was easier to find among sinners. Who could live up to the standard of perfection? No one. But, being a child, I didn't realize that this message wasn't entirely true or that the person preaching this message was probably sinning themselves. Well, here I am years later and I still have to remind myself that Jesus came so that we didn't have to live up to the law without error. Let's face it, absolutely no one could do that, other than Jesus himself.And that is the reason his blood had to be shed. That's when grace came into play. Our salvation is not dependent on our works. We can't be good enough. We can't do enough. And it's refreshing to know that we don't have to be perfect.

Yesterday, I had a bad day. I'm sure that my actions (or more accurately, my reactions) didn't quite live up to the standard of Christian behavior that I desire to have. Some may think that my actions weren't that bad or that they were justified, but I want to be better than that. I don't want anything questionable about my behavior to be a stumbling block to others. Anyway, I don't know why I find it so difficult to just ask forgiveness at the onset, but I ended up going to bed with this unresolved issue playing out in my head. Eventually, I prayed some quick little, "forgive me, Lord" prayer and finally fell asleep. But this morning I woke up to this feeling that perhaps my prayer wasn't enough and then that guilt came creeping back in. But I got to thinking about that verse in Lamentations 3:22-23, which says:

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

1 John 1:9 tells us,  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

So if God's mercy is new every morning, and he is faithful and just and will forgive us when we repent, then we can come boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:6). So, even though my prayer may not have been this long, drawn out, wordy prayer, if I was truly repentant (and I was), then it was enough. And I don't have to keep dwelling on the sin, but rather, I can dwell on the faithfulness, the mercy and forgiveness that God has given. And I can move forward and put this behind me. And nobody can throw guilt and condemnation on me, not even myself. If I keep rehashing this and feeling like it hasn't been forgiven, then I'm ultimately saying that Jesus' blood wasn't enough.