Last night’s start to the Sweet 16 was fun to watch as Loyola-Chicago prolonged their Cinderella story and Kansas State kept their surprising run alive. Florida State was impressive with its win and Michigan put together its own dominating performance.
As these winning teams celebrated, four others were sent home in defeat. Kentucky looked like they had a good chance to get to the Final Four, but fell short, and Gonzaga's journey also ended. Texas A&M and Nevada found themselves on the losing end as well.
There's no question that basketball players hate to lose, so as the buzzer sounded and the game clock showed all zeros, they immediately displayed emotions of sadness, anger, frustration, and disappointment.
Even though it’s just a game, athletes don't take a loss lightly and experience overwhelming feelings of failure and deep pain. They know losing is inevitable in playing sports, but because they also know the effects of losing, they do whatever they can to avoid it.
In a similar sense, every person who has walked the earth, other than Jesus, has experienced losing to sin. We live in a broken and sinful world and it’s inevitable that sin will get the best of us at times, but it's foolish to willingly give in. If sinning isn't winning, why would we choose to lose?
We must ask ourselves, do we truly hate sin? Do we feel deep pain when we fall short? Are we filled with sadness, righteous anger, disappointment, and frustration when we sin? And do those feelings lead us to do whatever we can to avoid it happening again?
The good news is, Jesus died on the cross to pay our debt so we can be forgiven, and offers us salvation from our sinful nature. That doesn’t give us the freedom to sin but should ignite a great hatred toward sin because we know God’s view of it. We understand the harm sin causes and know how much God loves us, so we respond in love by wanting to please Him.
The Bible says in Psalm 97:10 (NLT), "You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.”
We’re challenged in Romans 12:9 (NLT), "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”
Our battle with sin will rage on until we enter heaven. But the more we're driven away from sin because of our hatred for it, and drawn to God because of our love for Him, the more winning we’ll experience.
When we do slip up, let’s make sure our hatred and sadness come from conviction rather than shame...and leads to a repentant heart instead of one that takes sin lightly.
Thankfully, we're given grace and can cling to the promise of Romans 8:1: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus ."
Today, let's also be encouraged that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray I’d view sin the way You view it. Help me to be driven by a love for You and hatred for evil. I pray I’d seek You with a repentant heart as I rest in Your forgiveness and grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
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