“This Diamond By Rev. Evan Goeglein
Joey felt terrible.
He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway. He couldn’t sleep and he didn’t feel like eating. Joey knew his high school guidance counselor was a Christian, so he thought he would talk to her. He confessed his sin, hoping to find some relief from the torment in his conscience. His guidance counselor was taken aback that Joey was bothered by this, as it was something most kids his age do and never feel bad about it. The counselor concluded Joey must suffer from low self-esteem or perhaps some kind of inferiority complex. Therefore, in an effort to assure him of God’s love she said, “Joey, you are a great kid. God loves you for you and no matter what you do, nothing can change that fact.” Joey liked hearing this, but it didn’t change the fact that he knew he had done something wrong.
H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 10
Stories like Joey’s are all too common. Maybe it’s like your story. You hear your conscience tell you not to do something, but you do it anyway. A terrified conscience is unmistakable. It comes with a vengeance when we realize our standing before God after we’ve done something we know to be wrong. The reason this bothers us so much is because we realize what we deserve before God and what our sins mean for us. This bothers us tremendously and there is only one solution. Many Christian books, preachers and wellmeaning counselors attempt to answer the problem by overcoming your sense of guilt with
the magnitude of God’s love. They emphasize that you are very precious to God and that He loves you unconditionally. Certainly, God does love you unconditionally and there is no doubt that you are precious to Him. But just knowing that God loves you isn’t the solution to your sin. It’s why God loves you and why you are precious to Him that is the answer to your sin: God loves you because you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus in His death and resurrection. It is important to understand this distinction. It was not because you are precious to Him that Jesus died for you—it is that Jesus died for you, therefore
