Four lies we hear the morning after a mistake

Becca Garvin

Again? How could I do that again?

I have asked myself that question more times than I can count.

When you wake up with guilt, it doesn’t go away quickly or easily. Shame might be lying beside you, it might be lingering on your breath, or it might be the fist-shaped hole in the wall.

All too familiar is the little voice that whispers:

If you were really a Christian, you wouldn’t have…

If you really loved God, you wouldn’t struggle with…

The beautiful truth is that we are saved by grace, not actions (Ephesians 2:9). We did not earn our salvation and we don’t have the power to reverse it, even in our worst moments. Just like doing good things cannot save us, doing bad things cannot ruin or define us.

We will never escape guilt by running away from God. As contrary as it seems, freedom only comes when we run toward God after a mistake.  

Lies We Hear And The Truth We Need To Know

Lie #1: I’m a terrible person.

Truth: You might have done a terrible thing, but that does not make you a terrible person. If you have asked Jesus into your life, the Bible says you are beautiful, accepted, and new (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Lie #2: I’m never going to get this right. 

Truth: You don’t have to. Jesus already died to make things right between God and us. Jesus did what we could never do, freeing us to put our eyes on Him, instead of on our own shortcomings and failures (Hebrews 12:2). Perfection is not the goal; pursuing Jesus is the goal.

Lie #3: Other people deserve God’s grace and forgiveness, but I don’t.

Truth: We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But Jesus’ death covered our sin—all of it. When we are in Christ, we are forgiven. No matter how messy our lives get, God will always welcome us back and help us start again. That’s grace.

Lie #4: I’ve gone too far. God could never forgive me this time.

Truth: God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and overflowing with love (Psalm 86:15). God does not have any false expectations of us because He knows everything we are going to do or say before it takes place (Psalm 139). He is not surprised by our mistakes.

Instead of letting our sin define us, let’s allow it to define how incredible God is. We have a God who knew we would rebel and sent His Son to die for us anyway. We have a Savior who knows how messy people are and died for us anyway.

The moments when we realize we’ve sinned should humble us, but they don’t have to defeat us. When Satan whispers in our ears how awful we are and how disappointing we are, we can remember the truth and respond, “Isn’t grace incredible?”