Tag Archives: condemnation

January 31, 2026

When Sin Meets the Heart: Conviction, Condemnation and Compassion

By altarofheaven

A sin is committed

A heart is convicted

A choice must be made….

Do you conceal or reveal your sin?

Do you hide in the darkness or come to the light?

The path you choose to walk down will determine whether you experience condemnation or compassion.  

Condemnation is that feeling of self-hatred, when you are defensive in what you did, and don’t want forgiveness. Deep inside you know you are wrong but you harden your heart. You become angry, bitter and insecure.

Compassion is what you experience when you admit you are wrong, and turn from your sin, to God knowing you do NOT deserve forgiveness but know you are forgiven because of what Jesus Christ has done. You place your faith not in turning a ‘new leaf’ but turning to Christ. The insecurity leaves and you become joyful, thankful and secure in Christ.

Brethren, keep confessing, keep repenting, keep living by faith in Christ…

“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” Proverbs 28:13

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Psalm 32:3

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in ChristJesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh,, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, sot that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace..”Romans 7:25–8:6

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January 3, 2016

{in}perfection

By altarofheaven

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His shoulders slump and his head is down in defeat as he shares with me a repeated sin he committed. He looks frustrated, weary and condemned. I too am frustrated ready to pile on condemning words, until I felt a tinge of compassion fill my heart. I was reminded of the confessing cleansing conversation I had with a friend about my sins just minutes before.

By God’s grace, I knew it was most important to share with my son the spiritual heart of the matter, to tell him the truth about the Truth-Jesus Christ.

To be transparent and share my genuine compassion for his sin struggle because I struggle too. It was a holy opportunity to share the Gospel. To share the gift of forgiveness and mercy that comes through repentance towards God and faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. To share the freedom that comes by power of the resurrected Christ. To walk him to God’s throne of grace.
It was a chance to remind us we’re not perfect and we need a Savior. Any righteousness we have comes from Jesus Christ in us. We are to practice righteousness, press on to maturity, but only God will perfect us until the day of Christ Jesus.
I write this stone of memorial to remind myself, we must practice patience–with ourselves…and one another.

***

When I was a new Christian I was naive to think I would no longer make a mistake. I read  that I was a “new creation” and given a “new heart,”and though I “knew” I was not perfect, I made an expectation for myself that I should be perfect or I was a hypocrite.

This led me to great frustration and even condemnation because I couldn’t understand the continual struggle against sin I was dealing with, let alone the number of times I failed. What I see now is any holiness I have is CHRIST IN me. I have seen my flesh and it’s ugliness to the point I’ve doubted my own salvation! The redeeming part is that my flesh and sin remind me of my need for a Savior. This gives me compassion for those that struggle, beginning in my own family.

A fruitful life comes by a daily walk of abiding in the one who is perfection: Christ.

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Glorify God. Magnify Christ. Edify the brethen.

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