When is the last time you screwed up and fell short? No one likes to admit it, but we’ve all been there, and we’re not talking majorly past tense. I failed, and y’all it was super recent.

God gave me a tremendous gift in this regrettable failure of mine, he allowed me to watch the unfolding affects as if from a distance. Almost like an out of body experience, I watched myself in response to my own recognized shortcomings. Now, I understand the tactics of the enemy to defeat us even better. I see it. I felt it. And God showed me exactly how to overcome it.

So, if you’re carrying around a failure you’ve been trying to hide, but it’s been eating you up inside, this one is for you, Sis!

The details of my failure are not necessarily important, but it’s much the same as yours. You do the thing you don’t want to do, and minutes later you wish you could go back and undo it, but you can’t. You’re left to face the fact that once again, you didn’t do what you know you were supposed to do and you regret it. And now, you’re so sorry.

We’ve all felt it. In fact, Paul certainly felt it and wrote about it in Romans 7:15, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”

That’s regret. Regret over what we did, what we said, how we behaved, how we reacted. I don’t understand why I do these things, and I bet you don’t understand why you do either. Dang, I hate it, don’t you?

So, here I was hating myself for my failure, and I saw the domino affect within me. I shrunk back in shame. I replayed the event over and over in my head, each time with greater guilt. And right there, I began dismissing my calling to be more because I felt less.

Sound familiar? Anyone else caught in this same trap? You’ve been called to be so much more, but you’re dismissing that call because you too feel less. I get it. But God says something different.

Step 1 is to confess and ask for forgiveness. I hit my knees. I told God exactly what I had done, although he already knew. I genuinely asked for forgiveness.

Then, let me tell you exactly what happened. I’m going to be completely honest with you. I laid down in bed and replayed the same event on a perpetual loop, sinking lower each time.

Is this what forgiveness looks like? Really, is what Jesus did for us not enough to cover our sin? What would be enough? Do we want Jesus to crawl back up on that cross and hang there again?

My Sister, what Jesus did for us IS ENOUGH. WE ARE COVERED. The moment we ask for forgiveness, it is given freely and fully. There’s nothing you have ever done, or ever could do, that is not covered by the sacrifice of Jesus. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God, and all of us are offered complete forgiveness. Not a single one of us is disqualified.

So, what’s the problem here? Why are forgiven girls walking around burdened by guilt and covered in shame? Why can’t we stop the story from playing out in our head over and over again? Why can’t we just stop beating ourselves up and fully accept what Jesus has offered us? If we have confessed our sin and asked for forgiveness, why are we still struggling with it?

This is where I was. I could see it playing out. Fully forgiven, yet not free. Falling victim to the ploys of the enemy who loves to play in our sin. His tactics are always the same, screw up and beat up. You screw up, then he beats you up. Over and over again, he reminds you of your failure. Each time you replay the story, you sink lower and feel more defeated.

In my low, beat up defeat, this time I heard Jesus. He said to me, “My girl, this is over, let’s move on.”

I was sulking in condemnation. Condemnation says what you did was bad, so that makes you a bad person. Condemnation says you’re guilty and you deserve punishment. Condemnation says there’s a price to pay, but the problem is you can never quite fully pay it off. There’s always an indebtedness to your shortcoming held over your head.

But let me tell you what my Bible says about that. Romans 8: 1-2 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

The Spirit which now lives within us has freed us from the power of sin which once ruled us. I can overcome this. I can move forward. I can let this go, turn off the replay, stop the screw up and beat up cycle, and walk in forgiveness and wholeness.

I can. You can. Will you?

The enemy would love nothing more than for you to dismiss yourself from this offer. He would love for you to reason why you’re too far gone. He would love for you to stay stuck in regret and shame while forfeiting the good plans God still has for you. Is that what you’re going to do? Are you going to let the enemy do that to you? Will you let him win?

There is NO condemnation for those who belong to Jesus. Stop picking it up and putting it on your back. That’s not yours to carry.

What God does give his girls in conviction. Conviction is that little voice inside that says you can do better than this. Conviction says rise up and leave that behind you. Conviction says let’s make this right and move forward with our head held high in victory over the very thing the enemy tried to use against us.

How do we make it right? After we talk to God about it, we confess and apologize to anyone who may have been affected by our failure. We don’t hide it in dark places where the enemy can poke at us. We bring it out into the light where all the enemy was trying to do is revealed and rendered powerless.

Here’s what I found … the step of confessing to those I had hurt was awful one second, and beautiful the next. The moment you do, you release all ties the enemy held on you. The chains are broken. The darkness is gone. Guilt and shame have left the building. And now, full forgiveness sets in.

James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

Well isn’t that the last thing the devil would want us to do? He would never want us to be healed. He would never want wonderful results in our lives. So he plays on guilt and shame and tells you your sin could never be revealed to another. But this keeps you stuck in your cycle of defeat and darkness.

Who can you talk to about this sin the enemy has been beating you up with? Who can pray with you so that you may be healed? Anyone who has faith in God has been declared righteous, and it is their earnest prayers that have this power!

I’m available. Seriously, message me. I’ll pray with you. Let’s get it out so the enemy can’t play in it for one more day. You are God’s girl, and God’s girls have no right to carry guilt and shame. What Jesus did on that cross is fully sufficient for every sin, every shortcoming, and every failure.

You’ve been sorry long enough, let’s move on to healing now!

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