1 John 3:19-20
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
I have noticed that you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the condemnation you feel when you contemplate your own sinfulness. On the one hand, this is a gift from God. Paul says in Romans 1 that a sure sign of God's wrath being poured out upon a person is their inability to feel badly about breaking His law or indulging their sinfulness. On the other hand, it is only a gift, if it is used the way God intends it. Since Satan cannot keep God from giving good things to His children, he attempts to convince God's children that the gifts are bad or twist the way they were meant to be used in order to accomplish evil with the good things God has given. Satan cannot create anything, he can only edit. Evil is not a force on its own, it is a goodness tank running on empty.
God is greater than our hearts. Hallelujah! And He knows everything. When you focus on your sinfulness, you are correct. The Devil has a point. You really are sinful and actually deserve to be shut out from all goodness. But that is only PART of the story. God knows everything. He knows that by grace and through faith you have placed yourself in Christ for the remission of your sins. So while it is true that when Jesus loves you, He loves a sinner, it is NOT true that those sins keep Him from loving you.
Whenever your heart condemns you, remember... that is only half the story. The wrongness on which you are tempted to dwell upon is not the entire situation. You are missing things, but God never does. In Him you can rest secure knowing that your sinful heart is forgiven, even from the sin of having forgotten to remember your salvation. You may miss the rest of the story sometimes, but there is always rest when we remember it.
May your heart be reassured today as you love God, hate sin, fight the good fight and rest entirely in Christ.
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