The Power to Get Up Again!
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“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)
How resilient are you? When you fall, do you land like a basketball or a bowling ball? Proverbs says that, even, righteous people fall. In Ecclesiastes 7:20, the Bible says, “Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.” The Apostle Paul may have had that in mind when he wrote to the Romans and said, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NIV)
And, just in case there was any room for doubt, Romans 3:10 says, “No one is righteous – not even one.”
So, the question isn’t if you will fall at times; the question is when you fall, what then? Your fall doesn’t have to be fatal! If you’re still occupying space and taking in oxygen, there is hope! There is no sin greater than God’s grace.
How does a righteous man get up when he’s fallen? By grace! Grace lifts us from our fallen state and offers us a place beside Christ to sit in heavenly realms! Grace gives us what we don’t deserve - forgiveness and favor! And, grace is unlimited! That’s great news for those of us who’ve blown it multiple times! This doesn’t mean that grace is a license to sin. Rather, grace offers comeback capacity – the resilience to bounce back, to learn from our mistakes, and the power and desire to do God’s will. When you’re so filled with guilt you can’t even lift your head, grace restores your dignity and worth! David understood that when feeling a failure as a father and on the run from his own son. He prayed in Psalm 3:3, “But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.”
What love! What mercy! God, in His matchless grace, stoops down to lift us up when we’ve fallen - even if it was our own fault! David knew it. He said, “The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.” Psalm 51:17 (NCV)
You may be a product of your past, but you don’t have to be a prisoner to it! Jesus Christ came to set the prisoner free! There is hope when the godly fall. What does Proverbs tell us to do when we’ve fallen? Get up! In Proverbs 24:16 (GW) the Bible says, “A righteous person may fall seven times, but he gets up again.”
Learn from your past; don’t live in it anymore. Then, move forward with God into the glorious future He has for you! Grace will give you the power to get up! You are not the only one who has ever fallen. The Bible says we’ve all sinned. We’ve all fallen. But by God’s grace we are justified freely, “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned! How is that possible? “Through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus!” Romans 3:24b (NIV) His promises will never fail you!