Having a great week in God's great creation at BSA Scout camp with my youngest son!

Scout Oath (or Promise)

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

What is your burden?

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
   who daily bears our burdens. 
Our God is a God who saves;
   from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
Psalms 68:19-20 (NIV)

God does not bear our burdens, occasionally. We don't have to wait in line or make a request via email, fax or in writing. He started working in our lives before we knew we needed him and before we even asked! He daily bears our burdens.

His work in our lives is on a daily basis. Salvation's work is every day. It isn't a once at the altar, once at the pearly gates deal. Salvation is God working in us every day. Maybe I don't see, understand or like what God is doing, but he is still working. Christ Jesus always lives to intercede for us. 

What is your burden today? What is the death that God is leading you to escape? He is Sovereign which means he has ultimate power over everything. He works everything out for the good of those love him. Look to God because he is looking after you.

Father, open our eyes to see your salvation working in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!

Fear and Legalism vs Love and Freedom

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:16-18 (NIV)

I have worked with two different kind of bosses/leaders. One is the person who leads by fear, the other by calm competency. I am sure you can relate. 

I have worked mostly in construction, restaurants and education. When I think of a "by fear" boss I think of one in particular who may have been, for me, the prototypical tyrant boss. He told me that if I didn't walk around with a pit in my stomach worried that something could go wrong then I didn't care and would not be ready for something that could go wrong. Consequently he would run around yelling at people, making up stuff to be upset about, accusing people of not working hard and generally just trying to make everyone work in a constant state of fear to "keep us on our toes". The real effect was that he was very distracting making people pay attention to a possible problem rather than dealing with the situations at hand. Thus creating more mistakes and problems which he would just yell about. 

The calm, competent people who I have worked with in a moment of crisis calmly identified the issue and resources and dealt with the problem at hand. I have seen this type of leadership deal with a house built one foot too tall, cooks and food servers not showing up at a restaurant (plus various disasters dealing with food), and anything from angry parents who want to deal out justice by themselves to fights and on campus turf wars. Calm and steady leadership always keeps things in perspective and seeks to resolve the issue with the minimum amount of damage. 

As Christians if we live under fear we are not free to love. Often we are afraid of being hurt, or of hurting others. Most of the time people make up rules to not get hurt. That usually ends up being legalism. For example, we fear the damage of alcoholism so we add to the word of God and say, "No alcohol." So, if someone has one drink, they are in sin or disqualified from leadership and condemnation keeps them free from being able to love. To be frank, I have seen a lot of people who didn't drink, dance, smoke or run with those who do (some of you older folks may remember that), cheat on their wives, lie, and do some pretty sinful things. Being afraid doesn't always stop you from being hurt or sinning.   

Loving God and my wife keeps me from being unfaithful more than being afraid of being caught. Love causes me to view everyone with humility and grace. People don't need my attention, they need Christ's love. So if I interact with another women (and as an educator I often do) I deal with her with respect and distance. Because I love my God and my wife I am not going to put myself in a place,  physically or emotionally, that will produce intimacy. I also realize I am an emotional moron. A woman's emotional language is on a graduate school level and I am in elementary school (probably kindergarten). Someone once told me that if a women talks to you about "a problem" and you can't identify  it and start to work on a solution in three minutes, she doesn't have a problem, she just wants to talk to you. 

Love is not afraid to do the right thing, to give of yourself or to allow others to freely enjoy what God has provided for them. Our faith in the love of God in Christ trusts that he is sovereign over our attempts to be like him and love in his Name. Try to love like Christ. 

Father, help us to be like Christ and love with the perfect love that casts out fear. Praise be to you in us today!

Love Is Not a Warm Fuzzy

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:12 (NIV)

"Love one another". What an iconic phrase, something we hear all the time. You see it on mugs, Facebook, Twitter and hear it in sermons and worship songs all the time. It has become what I call a warm-fuzzy phrase. It feels good to say but it's hard to do. In a way we have heard it so much that we are kind of immune to it's real meaning and true intent.

When it matters is when real love is needed to deal with the hurt and injuries inflicted by sin and our sinful, selfish ways of dealing with each other. Real, Christlike love is sacrificial, do what needs to be done, love. The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Emphasis mine.) Jesus was not feeling all warm and fuzzy on the cross, he was experiencing all the pain, separation and rejection of our sins. That is the love John is talking about when he says to love one another. 

If you are married, you know that it isn't a warm fuzzy that gets you through sometimes. Dying to yourself, forgiving a wrong that your spouse can not see or acknowledge, is what makes a godly marriage work. All relationships need Christlike love to make them work. 

How do you need to love today?

Father, thank you for your love for us in Christ, what he endured on the cross so that we may be your children. Help us to love one another like you loved us. Praise be to you in us today!

The Enemy Gets a Victory, Not the Victory

I knew something was amiss when an assistant pastor read Psalm 51. Not a few verses, all of Psalm 51 and asked the congregation to really think about what the verses meant. The enemy had a victory. One of the leaders sinned and was resigning. 

A marriage, a family, people, a ministry all decimated by sin, by the actions of people, real people. I can't imagine the depth of pain, betrayal and loss his wife is experiencing. That she chose to forgive and try to work through this has got to be one of the single greatest examples of love, forgiveness and grace I have ever seen. 

I called a friend of mine who I have known a long time and we have been through a lot, seen a lot and worked through a lot. We talked at least an hour. Sometimes it's not about pointing out the sin because that is obvious. Sometimes it's just about connecting in Christ.

Passion, like all emotions can be a two-edged sword. Unfortunately many people do not realize that a person who has a passion to serve Christ, see people come to know him as Savior and Lord, and then shepherd them to growth in Christ, is a passionate person. I think lust is uncontrolled and unconcerned passion. Pastor's can be easy prey for the enemy because they are passionate people. Some people might think that pastors, priests and preachers are almost immune to passionate desires and lust. No, they are human and just like everyone else. Here's a question or two: Who do you talk to when you are dealing with passion, temptation? Who can your pastor talk to? 

I hope to be able to help in some way. I think my relationship with him was just a bit beyond acquaintance because we were only able to talk a few times. But, if I can I will walk along side to help. In the battle for our faith, it is a loss. The enemy won a battle. Not the war, a battle. The war still rages. We fight on in faith, battling with mercy, grace and forgiveness. 

Father, may your grace abound. Praise be to you in us today.

Do You Have a Forgiveness Plan?

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:10-12 (NIV)

Sometimes perspective is everything. Seeing God's love only from the time we encounter him is just a partial picture of the reality of his love for us in Christ. 

I first saw my wife while greeting at church. I saw her come in a week or so later and thought maybe she might go by the church bookstore after the service. So, I went by there to "look at some books" after church and lo and behold she came in with a friend. I made my way over to her and struck up a conversation, trying to not look to obvious. 

After we had dated for awhile she shared with me her perspective. Apparently she told a long time friend of hers that she had see this guy who smiled at her funny or something at church. They decided that I might drop by the book store and guess what? I was there.

If we only think of our relationship with God from the time we first were confronted with the gospel we won't fully appreciate the depth of his love for us. God loved us before the beginning of time, before we were even a twinkle in our mama's eye, before we loved him. Here's the other part of the equation we often overlook. He knew we would rebel and sin so, he planned for it and chose to send his Son to die for our sins. 

We all are sinners. Everybody sins. We all hurt each other. Since God deals with our sin in foresight, knowing he will have to forgive us, we should do the same for each other. Do you get that? Plan to be forgiving. Know you will have to be forgiven. Remember, in Christ God has forgiven you. 

Father, thank you that even though you knew we would rebel and sin against you chose to send your Son Jesus Christ to die for the sins we would commit. Help us to love each other in the same way. Praise be to you in us today!

Know That You Know God

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 

1 John 4:7-9 (NIV)

Lately people like to make a heart with two hands. Even soccer/futbol players did it after they scored a goal at the World Cup. As a guy I find it amusing that women love to post stuff about love. Love is this love is that. Love, to many people is a super strong urge or emotion (warm fuzzy) that compels them to attach themselves emotionally to another person and look to them for emotional fulfillment. 

I love my wife and have pretty strong emotions for her. But, if I only loved her when I felt like it our marriage would of failed a long time ago. I learned pretty quickly that love was about choice. Love is giving when I don't particularly feel like. If you know God and know his love you understand the depths of love, true love, what the Bible calls agape love. It is beyond friendship. It is beyond erotic physical love. It is love by choice, love by action. 

My wife kind of got upset with me one time because she noticed that I had written down on my planner to send her a note or buy her a little gift to let her know I loved her. I know she wanted spontaneous but, knowing that spontaneous doesn't do well with busy I chose to make sure I did something to love her. Let me tell you, sometimes the thought doesn't count, only an action will do. You know, actions speak louder than words. 

If we know God, says John, we love. If you don't love, you don't know God. We know what love is like because the love that God has for us was demonstrated by sending his only Son into the world that we might live through him. Get it? Love is giving. Love is action, serving others. 

Father, help us to love not just in word but in our actions. Open our understanding see the opportunities to love you place before us today.  Praise be to you in us today!

Don't Let the World Intimidate You

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

I John 4:4 

First, a few thoughts on the greatness of God...

I know that the Lord is great,
   that our Lord is greater than all gods.
The Lord does whatever pleases him,
   in the heavens and on the earth,
   in the seas and all their depths.
Psalms 135:5-6 (NIV) 
God does what he wants, as he sees fit. Some people think they will call God to account for the evil and injustice in the world. According to the Bible God is the Judge and we will all answer to him. The evil and injustice in the world is the result of mankind's rejection of God and rebellion to his Sovereignty. 

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 
John 10:29 (NIV)
God is greater than all. All what? All everything, all anything. No person, no government, no belief will overpower or out think God. Every knee will bow, even those who impetuously deny and blame him.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (NIV)
Sometimes all we will be able to see is the vastness of those who oppose us and our God. It may, at this time, look like the God haters are winning, but remember that the devil thought he won a great victory when Christ was crucified. But when Christ rose from the dead, conquering both sin and death, God forever revealed that he is greater than sin, it's sting which is death and Satan the accuser.  

  
The time we live in is definitely anti-Christ. One political party wanted to take the name of God of their platform during the last election. That can be intimidating, but greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.

Father, reveal yourself and your greatness to us as we seek to trust in you in this wicked world. May we shine like lights in the darkness! Praise be to you in us today!

Because I Said So

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

1 John 4:1-3 (NIV)

I guess I have always been one of those people who questioned authority. Saying, "Because I said so!" didn't really work for me. Shorty after giving my life to Christ I started to attend a Calvary Chapel church. One of the things that impressed me was that the pastors would say, "Don't believe me just because I say something. Compare it with the Bible and if what I say doesn't agree with what the Bible says tell me." The deal is that you have to read the Bible and study it to know what it says. In the same way you have to spend time with Christ to know him. If you don't acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh, that he is real, you don't know Jesus. 

A lot of people say a lot of things about Jesus. The Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus was Michael the Archangel before he became Christ and was "a" god, not "the" God, Jehovah. Some say Jesus was a good teacher, a great man, or maybe just a myth. The Apostle John flat out says that if you don't acknowledge that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, you are not from God. 

Just because someone calls themselves a teacher, a prophet, an evangelist, does not make it true. People say all kinds of things. John tells us not to believe everyone, and to check if they believe that Jesus has come in the flesh. If they are wrong about who Jesus is, that won't be all they will be wrong about, because no matter what else they say they won't be talking about the Jesus of the Bible, the Way, the Truth and the Life, the only way to Father (John 14:6).

Father, help us to know you, to know Jesus and to remain in him. Praise be to you in us today!

A Sunday Psalm

 Psalm 25

Of David. 

In you, Lord my God, 
   I put my trust. 

I trust in you;
   do not let me be put to shame,
   nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
   will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
   who are treacherous without cause. 

Show me your ways, Lord,
   teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
   for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
   and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
   for you, Lord, are good. 

Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
   and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
   toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
For the sake of your name, Lord,
   forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity,
   and their descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
   he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the Lord,
   for only he will release my feet from the snare. 
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart
   and free me from my anguish.
Look on my affliction and my distress
   and take away all my sins.
See how numerous are my enemies
   and how fiercely they hate me! 

Guard my life and rescue me;
   do not let me be put to shame,
   for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
  because my hope, Lord, is in you. 
Deliver Israel, O God,
   from all their troubles!

Psalms 25:1-22 (NIV)

Thank you, Father, that we can trust in you and you will not allow us to be put to shame. We hope in you, we call upon you. Teach us to walk with you. Praise be to you in us today!

God's Grace and Light to You...

May God be gracious to us and bless us
   and make his face shine on us, 
                                                          Selah
so that your ways may be known on earth,
   your salvation among all nations.
Psalms 67:1-2 (NIV)

Father, we need your grace and your blessings upon us. We need your face to shine upon us. All our hope is in you. Shine through us and show your grace to the world around us. Praise be to you in us today!

Loving Actions and Assurance

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

1 John 3:19-24 (NIV)

I admit that I have watched the tryouts for American Idol and it is good trainwreck TV. The sad thing is that some people don't know that they can't sing. Some people don't know how good they really are. The deal is that you know you are a singer not because you feel like a singer but because you sing and sing well. Being a Christian is not about feelings, being a Christian is about being Christlike.

How often do we first look to how we feel to assure ourselves of our relationship with God in Christ? Remember, we love because he first loved us. Notice that the Bible does not say that we feel like loving others therefore we love others. Let's get real here. If my love for my wife is only attached to feelings, our marriage is in trouble. I have to love her in actual, tangible ways. 

Let's get down to the bottom line. When we see someone in need and we can help, help. We love by faith. Faith in Christ that he will use our actions to glorify himself. Remember that this is not about your good deeds equaling your salvation. Don't get caught up in that stuff. Just try to be giving. God will sort it all out in Christ. 

Father, help us to enjoy each opportunity to love in action. Praise be to you in us today!

If You Got It, Give It

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)

Talk is cheap. An emotion is not an action. I can tell my wife I love and genuinely feel it, but, if I don't act in loving ways, she won't believe me. John gets right to the heart of the issue and says we need to lay down our lives for our brothers. He explains that love is action by helping a brother with a material need. If you got it, give it (to those in need). 

Sometimes I will ask myself this simple but very telling question: What did I do that showed my love to my wife, to my children, or to people I came in contact with? This is not meant to be condemning because we all fall short of the glory of God. Yet, when we see a need, we need to try to meet it. If my wife needs some rest, I can do what needs to be done so she doesn't have to do it. If my children need time, I can give it. If a friend needs help, you can help. 

The deal is that sometimes we just need to stop and look around, listen to what others are saying, watch what they are doing. Meet a need. The difficulty can be our willingness because to give to others may require laying down our lives, giving up a bit of ours.

Father, help us to love as you have loved us. Thank you for your love, laying down your life for us! Help us to lay down our lives for others. Praise be to you in us today!

Eternal Life is Now

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

1 John 3:11-15 (NIV)

Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, once started off a new season of football by placing a football in front of the team and pronounced, "Gentlemen, this is a football." He, of course, was not insinuating that his players didn't know what a football was, he was making a point that they needed to get back to the fundamentals of playing football. 

The Apostle John takes us back to the beginning, the foundation of our beliefs: Love one another. He contrast love with murder and takes us back to the book of Genesis where Cain, because of his own evil actions, killed his brother whom God was pleased with. It is a pretty stark contrast between love and murder. If you don't have love, your hatred has a logical end: murder. That is not to say that everyone who hates murders, it does mean that hates end is murder. 

Love passes us from death to life. Notice that verse 15 says that "has eternal life in him". It does not say that eternal life is in the future, it states that it is something in us now. When we pass from death to life because we love one another that is eternal life. Sometimes we miss things because we simply don't know what we are looking for. When I love others life opens up. Tomorrow we are going to talk more about this (God willing) but I just want to start us thinking about how love frees while hate restricts. 

God loves us. We loves as he has loved us. That shared loves opens us to eternal life in our lives in the here and now. Enjoy.

Father, help us to love one another and enjoy the eternal life your love gives us. Praise be to you in us today!

Verses of the Week

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
   I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. 
   I will build you up again, 
   and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
   and go out to dance with the joyful.
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;
   the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.
Jeremiah 31:3-5 (NIV)

“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
   proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
   and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
For the Lord will deliver Jacob
   and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
Jeremiah 31:10c-11 (NIV)

“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
   and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
   because you are the Lord my God.
Jeremiah 31:18c (NIV)

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Jeremiah 32:26-27 (NIV)

“ ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 

Jeremiah 33:6-8 (NIV)

Why Wait To Be Forgiven?

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”
Jeremiah 36:1-3 (NIV)

Even when we are in sin God is gracious and calling out for us to repent so that he can forgive us. His purposes are not just about punishment. His desire is that he may forgive us and that we may enjoy his righteousness. Just don't confuse the conviction of the Spirit with the condemnation of the enemy. And don't misunderstand the mercy and patience of God for permissiveness. 

The deal is this: Why wait to repent? God is offering forgiveness. He wants to work graciously in your life. It's kind of like you are drowning in the ocean, surrounded by sharks, and wondering if you should take the life rope.  Take the rope. 

Father, thank you for your patience and forgiveness. Help us to repent. Praise be to you in us today!

Don'e Let Sin Distract You

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

1 John 3:7-10 (NIV)

Am I more concerned with the devil's work or Christ's work? Is my attention on sin or what Christ is doing in my life? 

One day, when my oldest son was in high school, he came home and said he wanted to wrestle me because he learned a move from a friend at school. I was a wrestler in high school so I asked him if he was sure and he said he was. Well, we circled around a few times and I got tired of waiting so tapped him on the forehead (which of course made him blink) and shot for his legs and took him down. The old tap on the forehead just as you're shooting for a take down distracts inexperienced opponents and gives you that split second to go for the legs. 

In a way that is like sin. It taps us on the head and distracts us from the grace of God and the work of Christ in our lives. The devil, our enemy wants us to focus on our sin because that keeps us from seeing Christ and his work in our lives. I think that is why I John 1:8-2:2 is such an important section of scripture. Sin happens. That is not a rationalization, it's a realization. One of my teachers used to say that the reason he slept well was because he took advantage of the cross (in the way intended). He confessed his sin, trusted Christ to forgive him and went to sleep.

The point is that we are to focus on Christ and living righteously. And it is NOT about works. It is about faith, trusting Christ to use us and to live righteously through us. 

Father, help us to focus on Christ's work in our lives and to live by faith in your grace. Praise be to you in us today!

Dealing With Sin

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

I John 3:4-6

Since we know that sinless perfection is not what is being discussed (see I John 1:8 - 2:2) we can sidestep some paralyzing guilt when we do sin. Let me say this; no sincere Christian wants to sin or be controlled by sin. If sin bugs you, if your sin makes you uneasy that is because the Spirit of God is inside you, convicting you. Not condemning, convicting. 

Maybe we can view conviction not just as a rebuke but a call to turn toward God, toward grace. Last summer my youngest son went to Boy Scout Summer camp and since it was his first year he participated in their Pathfinder program. One of the classes was on safely using knives. While the leader was going over something they call the blood circle (the distance you hold the knife out and someone could get injured/cut by it in any direction) a scout walked up grabbed a knife and said, "I got a knife like this! Can show you how to use it?" He was breaking just about every rule of safety and ignoring the leader asking him to stop and put the knife back. After getting the boy to set it down I took him aside and talked to him about being respectful and that if he would listen and properly handle a knife he could earn the badge. 

The lesson is that the leader was not telling the scout to put down the knife because he wasn't concerned about him, rather, because he was concerned for all the scouts' safety the leader warned him and instructed him how and why to handle knives properly. 

The Holy Spirit does not condemn us in regards to sin. The Holy Spirit convicts us and teaches us all truth. We will be tempted. We will sin. John teaches us to live in Christ, to abide or remain in Christ. Temptations, struggles and trials and can last a moment, a season or a lifetime. The Apostle Paul himself said he had a thorn in his flesh (II Corinthians 12:7-10) that just would not go away even though he earnestly served God and sought God about it. The deal was that he just kept seeking grace, that God says is sufficient. And that is what we are supposed to do. Keep seeking God. Keep seeking his grace. 

Father, thank you for your Spirit, your conviction and your grace! Praise be to you in us today!