Many Christians are so busy doing the devil’s work that he does not have to bother with them much. 

The scripture says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

In the book of Revelation, the author refers to Satan as “the accuser.” He is ever accusing us before God, like a schoolyard tattletale, always pointing his finger at us and what we do wrong. And he loves to remind us continually of past sin and failures. He is the voice of condemnation.

On the contrary, through the reading of the Bible, the Holy Spirit of God, and man’s conscience, God brings about the conviction of sin. There is a marked difference between conviction and condemnation.

Conviction over sin is a good thing. It is a gift from God and a tool used to draw us to God through prayer and repentance.

The accuser uses condemnation to keep us from God. Condemnation says, “You can’t talk to God about that. … He will never forgive you. You are a hopeless case. You may as well not ask.”

Many Christians, although forgiven by God through sincere confession and repentance, continue berating themselves over their past sins; condemning themselves over mistakes they have made, or sins they have committed, when scripture says in the Psalms, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

Rather than focusing on the grace and mercy of God and His forgiveness, they focus on their failures and all the reasons why they do not deserve to be forgiven.

The fact is, none of us “deserve” forgiveness, according to the Bible. It is by the grace and mercy of God alone that we are forgiven. 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. And according to scripture, we all deserve hell and eternal death (separation from God) because of our sins. (Romans 6:23)

My husband, every time he is asked how he is doing, responds with the same answer – “Better than I deserve.” He is referring to the fact that if he got what he deserved, according to the Bible, he would get hell and eternal death. But by the grace and mercy of God through faith in Jesus, he will not get what he actually deserves.

When we say things like, “God could never forgive me … I do not deserve it … I’ve done too many bad things … I keep failing, etc.,” that is a slap in the face of the grace of God and is a form of pride.

Oh, it sounds humble enough, but it is, in essence, saying, “Jesus, your sacrificial death on the cross for the sins of the world isn’t enough to cover mine.” It says, “I’m a special case … in all of humanity, your atoning blood isn’t enough to cover my wretched sin.” 

And that, my friend, is the voice of pride and the father of it – Satan himself. Because anything that goes against the Word of God, the Truth, is an insult to God Almighty. And we know God hates any form of pride! (James 4:6)

The scripture says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …,” (Romans 3:23) but it also says, “If you (anyone) openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) When you do that, the Bible says your sins are covered, forgiven, atoned for, by the precious blood of Jesus!

Yes, as Christians, we will sin, we will make mistakes and fail, miserably sometimes. Someone once said, “Christians aren’t perfect; they are forgiven.”

However, when we fail, when we sin against God, if we confess it to the Lord with a broken and contrite spirit and ask Him to forgive us and help us not sin against Him, the scripture says He will! 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

The Bible does not say, “If we confess our sins, dwell on those sins, keep berating ourselves over those sins for weeks, months or years – then He is faithful and just to forgive us.”

No! It says, “If we confess our sins…,” He will do the rest. Only He can do the rest. But that confession needs to come from a place of brokenness over our sin and failures. And God knows our hearts.

Friend, stop doing the devil’s work by beating yourself up over past sin and failures. Make light of your opponent, the accuser, and confess that sin, those failures, those shortcomings as quickly as you can every single time.

Let the conviction of the Holy Spirit draw you closer to the Lord through prayer and repentance.

And when the accuser, through condemnation, tries to remind you of some sin or failure, borrow a line from your Savior and say to him – “Be gone, Satan!” Tell him that you have repented, and it has been covered by the precious, powerful blood of Jesus Christ, and He has tossed it into the gracious, merciful, sea of forgetfulness – as far as the east is from the west!”

Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a B.S. in psychology from Valdosta State University.