Could you be unintentionally wrong? Could you be unintentionally doing the wrong thing, walking the wrong path, thinking the wrong thoughts, saying the wrong things, getting things unintentionally wrong. You don’t mean to be wrong, but you are. You don’t even realize it.

We have unintentional sin in our lives. We’re not even aware of it, yet there is a need to bring it to God and seek forgiveness.

Psalm 19:12, “But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” Now, let’s look at various translations. “Who perceives his unintentional sins?” “How can I know the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from my secret faults.”

We have made errors in judgment without knowing it. We have unintentionally been wrong all while thinking we are so right. Our faults are hidden, even from us, but God knows. And God wants to cleanse us of even the unseen so that it doesn’t grow in our lives.

David wrote this Psalm and he’s saying he knows he has ignored and disobeyed God even more than he’s aware of. Isn’t that us too? I know I’ve failed countless times, but I’m certain there are even more shortcomings I never took credit for. Things I’ve never brought to God. Things I haven’t asked for help with.

What are your secret faults, your unintentional sins? Things you have never repented from, things which were committed in your heart but never brought to action, things done in ignorance because you didn’t know any better, things done in private but if they were made public you would be ashamed. Do you have some of those? Really, do you? Upon examination, I found I do. I have plenty of secret faults and unintentional sins.

And here’s the things about being unintentionally wrong … it will lead you to a place you don’t want to be.

In our truck, my husband is the driver and I’m the navigator. He’s a great driver, I’m an admittedly horrible navigator. Recently we were traveling from Illinois to the Florida Keys, and I had booked an Airbnb for the night. I put the address of the property in my husband’s GPS, then he followed directions. As we came closer and closer to the destination it felt more and more wrong. Then the little lady on the phone said, “you have arrived at your destination.” It had dropped us off in the ghetto.

Then we discovered I had made a small error. I entered the correct house number and street name, however unintentionally choose the wrong city. We were MILES from where we were supposed to be, on the wrong highway in the wrong city. It wasn’t intentional, but it was a small error that led us to a place we didn’t want to be.

Let me tell you something, our small errors will unintentionally take us to the ghettos of life. WE DON’T WANT THAT!

Lord, what errors am I making? How have I gotten this wrong? What have I missed? What little thing is throwing me off course?

But of course, we all have sin that isn’t unintentional too. We have deliberate, chosen, premeditated, continued wrong doing in our lives.

Psalm 19:13, “Keep your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule me.” Again, let’s look at other translations. “Keep me from stupid sins, thinking I can take over your work.” “Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
 Let them not have dominion over me.”

Y’all, I can be stupid and do stupid things. I know better, but I don’t do better. Can you admit to being the same?

We willfully and deliberately do things we know we shouldn’t do. It’s a condition of the human race, a condition Jesus came to save us from.

Again, the man who wrote this is David. David was a saint. The one referred to as “a man after God’s own heart.” And yet David knew major failure was possible for him. He knew that sin could creep into this life, grab ahold of him, and have dominion over him. None of us are immune from the stronghold of sin. None of us are exempt from the darkness of the enemy that creeps in, twists things and corrupts our minds, convincing us to do the wrong thing.

Remember, you have an enemy, and that enemy’s goal is to kill, steal and destroy. He’s looking for any crack in your life to introduce sin that will wreck your marriage, ruin your reputation, steal your hopes and dreams, kill your potential, and hurt others in the process. And once he gets in your life, he creates absolute chaos. Chaos you don’t know how to undue. Chaos that leaves you chained up in sin you can’t undo. This is the real threat, and I don’t care how good you are, it’s a threat to you.

I’ve seen good people fall hard. I’ve seen good intentions get twisted and warped into unimaginable harm. I’ve seen the enemy creep his way into God’s work and create absolute destruction. It could happen to you!

So, what are these presumptuous sins, sins that are willful, sins that are deliberate, sins that are absolute stupidity. Let me give you a list so you can identify them at work in your life.

When we really do know better.
When friends have warned us.
When God himself has warned us.
When we have warned others about the same thing, yet now we’re doing it.
Is there any of that in your life. Are you doing anything you know you shouldn’t do? Have you fallen into something you’ve been warned about, or you’ve even warned others about, but now you’re in it?

THESE THINGS WILL RULE YOU AND THEY WILL RUIN YOU. JESUS WANTS TO SAVE YOU FROM THAT. HE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO LIVE IN BONDAGE TO THE THINGS THE ENEMY HAS TWISTED IN YOUR LIFE.

Look at this scripture, the sin the enemy tricks us with has a progression. It starts with simple errors. Errors in judgement. Errors in thought. Errors in direction. Those errors become secret faults and unintentional sins. We don’t mean to do wrong, but we are wrong without knowing it, so we go full speed ahead in the wrong way. And eventually those erroRs that become unintentional sins grow to presumptuous sins. We’re intentionally doing things we know we shouldn’t be doing and we’re hiding it, hoping to get away with it longer.

See how it works? See how the enemy weasels his way into the cracks and seeks to radically destroy every ounce of goodness in your life?

It starts with a temptation and that temptation becomes a chosen thought. And as you think about it, you start wishing for it. That wish becomes a planned action, then that planned action begins to seek an opportunity. Opportunity is found and the act is performed. As the act is performed, it becomes a repeated action. Those repeated actions become a habit. And guess what that habit becomes … it becomes your chain. YOUR PRISON. You are the slave.

All the while, the Holy Spirit within you is saying, “No, stop. This isn’t good for you. This isn’t right. This little wrong will lead to big wrongs and wreck everything. Don’t do this.”

Lord, help us to see our unintentional sins. Help us catch our errors in thought and errors in direction. Convict us of our secret faults. Strengthen and empower us to do better. Father, help us to slam the door on the enemy. He doesn’t get access to our lives or our families. Romans 6:14 tells us because of Jesus, sin will NOT have dominion over us. We seek your freedom. We seek holy conviction and change. We see the progression of sin and how it can so innocently begin and grow. Don’t let it grow here!

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