Bible Study Chat 9

Fearnot said:

Thank You Cindy, for me, I can never hear enough about the hurt that sin causes self and others.
I think I am mostly at the stage were sin in myself and others, makes me long for heaven, when I will have a new body and a transformed mind that will never be hurt by sin any more.

 

I don't worry about myself being hurt by sin as much as it breaks my heart to see others hurt by it; I know I'll be ok, as I have the Lord to heal my heart and cleanse me, but most of the time, I don't know about the other people. Even if they're saved, I don't know if they have a close enough relationship with the Lord to be comforted by Him, which is why the effect of sin on others bothers me more then it's effect on me. I've literally cried because I knew how badly sin was hurting a person and there was nothing I could do but pray for them. It had hurt me too, but I understood that it was the sin that had caused me pain, not them - they simply didn't know any better and couldn't help themselves, and didn't even realize that they're depression and problems were being caused by the sin in their lives. It just broke my heart.

I realize that sounds really weird to say it's the sin others do that hurts them, that causes me more pain then sin when it hurts me, but if you think of it this way, it might help you understand what I mean:

Have you ever known an attack dog? I mean a dog that was trained to attack other people? It had been drilled into them since they were puppies and the behavior is simply automatic. Let's say they get a new owner and the new owner loves them and treats them with love, and doesn't want them to attack people. He's also unaware of what the commands were that would set the dog off. Well the dog loves his new owner and is grateful he's with him, but one day, unknowingly the owner, in speaking, unknowingly says one of the command words. Without thinking the dog immediately attacks. Afterward, the dog is confused because his new owner doesn't seem like someone who would want him to do that, and he certainly doesn't like doing it either, but he couldn't help himself. His owner, understanding the problem is obviously sad but doesn't blame the dog. It's not the dogs fault, it's his old owners fault for teaching him to behave that way in such an automatic manner.

That's how we are. We've all been trained to attack on command and the commands for us each are many and different. (attacking on command are our sins) We are all taught and trained that way by our owner, Satan, until the Lord Jesus saves us. Until that day happens, we can try to resist Satan but we won't be successful, we will always attack. Once Jesus saves us, He gives us a new nature, one that doesn't have to attack on command anymore, and He loves us. But we still are affected by those old commands and we still will start to attack when we hear them. The Lord understands that it's not our fault. We don't want to do that anymore, because our new owners command to us is to always love no matter what, but we can't help it and still react to the old command at times. It's the way we were programmed by our previous owner. So He gives us His Word which is much stronger then our old owners commands and will strengthen us, encourage us, and help us overcome those commands, IF we read and study it daily with Him and apply it to our lives. Because our old owner had hold of us for so long, and because he owns so many other people and we see them obeying him all the time, it can be difficult for us to be completely free of him and his effect on us. Our new owner has assured us though that if we persevere, we will eventually win each battle and then one day soon we will be free of that old owner forever!

The old owner is obviously Satan, and as I said, the command to attack is our sins, and the new owner is our Lord Jesus. When an unsaved person sins, they can't help it. They're totally defenseless against Satan. He will win every time with them. They literally cannot help themselves, any more then we could before we were saved. So when they sin and hurt us, we can't blame them, it's not their fault, it's Satan's fault. It's the same with someone who's been saved. When they sin and hurt us, it means they slipped back into their old routine for some reason. Perhaps they knew better and maybe they didn't, but either way, the sin that hurt us was again not their fault, it was Satan's fault for causing them to have that old nature in the first place.

So I can't very well blame anyone for something that isn't there fault in the first place, can I? Especially when I know how much that very same sin is hurting them, because it's hurting them a whole lot more then it's hurting me. How do I know that? Easy, because I do have a close relationship with the Lord and accept His comfort and encouragement, and I can see the hurt and confusion behind the other persons words and actions.

Fearnot said: 

That was beautiful Cindy!!!! And put in such a way that both Eva and I could really relate to being dog people ( and cat people and bird and horses etc. LOL).
But I spent 3 plus years obedience training my beloved Airedale Shama, so that really spoke to me. It reminded me so much of the way Jesus would talk to the people by talking in symbols that were their every day life.
That was wonderful!!!

I'm so glad it helped! I always figure when something makes sense it's because the Lord wrote it, not me LOL