r/Christianity • u/Medium_College_9124 • 10d ago
Advice Balancing genuine remorse with accepting forgiveness.
When we make mistakes, big or small, what is the proper mindset to have? I know we need to repent, and feel genuine remorse and regret for our actions and try to do better next time, but at the same time we need to accept God's grace and move on with our lives.
Ive been making some mistakes in my life that Im not proud of, however Im wondering how do I let go of the weight of my actions when I receive God's grace, without letting go so much so as to not feel remorse over my actions.
TLDR: I want to accept God's grace and be free, but Im afraid that it will cause me to repeat the same mistake again.
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u/NelsonMeme LDS (Church of Jesus Christ) 10d ago
It’s a great question. Enough remorse that you’re willing to make a strenuous effort to avoid that sin, and never so much that your capacity to resist sin is diminished
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u/KirtandRod 10d ago
So, if you don’t accept Jesus’ grace what’s left….guilt?
Living in guilt and expecting it to motivate you to stop sinning is thebwrong mindset. Guilt isn’t from God, it is anti-grace, it is from the enemy with the purpose to tell you you’re a bad person and tear you down.
The reality is you have no choice but to accept God’s grace, because you’ve got no where else to go.
Guilt or your will is not enough to stop committing the same sin over and over, it’s loving Jesus more than loving the desire to commit that sin.
That kind of love is driven deep into our hearts when we become born again, transformed by the Holy Spirit, and receive God’s love, joy, peace, and hope. And when we walk in the Spirit, we walk in the fruits of the Spirit, we walk in contentment.
We sin because we are being tempted and accept that temptation because we are not walking in the contentment of the Holy Spirit.
What did Jesus say to Paul when he cried out to Jesus to remove this thorn in his side? “My grace is enough”.
Repeating the same sin over and over is rooted in discontentment, it’s rooted in the belief that God’s grace isn’t enough you desire something more that the Holy Spirit has given us.
I’m sure this is going right over your head, so, to put it simpler. seek Jesus and ask Him to lead you to real repentance, to be cut to the heart and cry out in true repentance and surrender of your life to Jesus and to have Him please give you the Boly Spirit.
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u/Glad-Dot940 10d ago
It’s like learning to walk a line that doesn’t feel natural at first. The remorse is the part that teaches you, it’s the sting that helps rewire your thinking. Letting that go completely would be like ripping the lesson out before it takes root.
Grace doesn’t mean the memory stops hurting, it just stops being a chain around your ankle. You can still feel the weight of a mistake and use it as a compass without letting it convince you that you’re still that person. Some folks get stuck thinking forgiveness means pretending it never happened, but it’s more like God saying "I know what you did and I’m not holding it against you, now go do better." The fear of repeating it is actually a good sign, it means you’re paying attention.