TARA GIBBS | CONTRIBUTOR

As a young mother, I took my one and three-year-old toddlers with me weekly to visit an elderly homebound widow. Seeing this woman’s joy in the hugs and laughter of my two children was a delightful gift. But, as I left each week, I began noticing unsettling thoughts in my mind and heart: “It is so wonderful that you visit this woman with your toddlers each week! What a good thing you are doing! If people knew, they would really say nice things about you.”

How frustrating it felt to not be able to do one thing without pride. I knew the solution was not to stop doing the right thing, but I wondered if there would ever be freedom from this weight of sin. I wondered, “Is the Christian life just one, long slog of feeling guilty all the time?”

Twenty-five years later, I would commend my younger self for identifying and confessing the sin in my heart. But I would also encourage “younger me” that a continual slog of guilt is not how the Bible describes the Christian life. Repentance was in order, but when repentance turns into one more opportunity to over-focus on self, I have missed the mark.

We can construct a false, self-made identity through focusing on good works, or we can build our self-made identity by over-focusing on guilt and shame. In both cases, I am the focus. The Bible commands us to turn our focus away from self and instead, “look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). The key to freedom in repentance is eyes focused on the right place.

What are the practical implications of eyes turned the right direction in our Christian life?

Freedom

First, it means we are truly free. Romans 8:1–2 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Galatians 5:1 tells us, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” We ignore these commands to our peril. As Christians, we are no longer under the law but under grace, and we are commanded to “stand firm” and not “submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Adoption

Secondly, when we repent, we repent as dearly-loved children. John 1:12 tells us, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. We see these truths confirmed in Gal. 3:26, Eph. 1:5, John 1:12, Rom. 8:15, and many other verses. If we are in Christ, we are God’s children. The question we must ask ourselves in repentance is, “Am I confessing with the heart of a beloved child of God, or am I confessing with the heart of a slave/orphan?” As I approach the throne of grace, am I expecting a Father’s loving smile or an angry king’s condemnation? Just as our children’s confessions are received by loving parents ready to embrace them with forgiveness, so our heavenly Father welcomes our confession with open arms. What joy it is to consider Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). I want to tell “younger me” that she did not lose her Father’s love, his smile, or his loving embrace when she struggled. We can confess our sin with freedom because we know our Father’s love —a love which he lavished upon us (Eph. 1:8). Rather than becoming more comfortable with sin, the safety of God’s fatherly love gives us confidence to more honestly and boldly confront the sin in our lives.

Celebration

And lastly, this means confession is no longer a time exclusively for mourning. It becomes an occasion for celebration. As we confess our sins, we celebrate because Jesus is there. We celebrate the transformation he is working in our lives and the redemption he is bringing to all of creation. Early in our church planting days a woman in our church said of my husband, the pastor, “I have never seen anyone talk about sin so much… and with so much joy!” My husband says this about confession: “His presence and power are so good that it ought to overwhelm our sorrow. With every celebration you affirm that Jesus—not sin—gets the last word!”

Will Christians continue to struggle with sin until glory? Absolutely. But as Scottish Pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne famously wrote, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely.”[1]

If you are burdened by guilt and condemnation, turn your eyes from self to Jesus’ smile. “Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces will never be covered with shame” (Psalm 34:5). Sisters, know God’s freedom. Know God’s adoption. Celebrate God’s victory over sin. May we go forth with radiant faces having felt the warmth of our Savior’s smile.

[1] Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M’Cheyne (Edinburgh, 1894), 293.

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