Knowing Sin

Dear Victorious,

You've written before about "owning one's brokenness" or recognizing our own sinful state. Just how do you propose someone go about that? And exactly when is it that one would be finished with that task?

Saved By Grace

Dear Saved,

You ask a very good question. There are probably multiple parts to the answer. The first part would be to understand what sin is --- and isn't. God's laws are useful, we're told, for helping us know what sin is. God established the measures for right and wrong in His Word. So read your Bible and make now of what we supposed to do and what we are not supposed to do.

Before you even start reading God's Word though, you have a conscience. God uses it to move you away from things He doesn't want for you. So without intellectual knowledge of what's right and what's wrong, you innately know some level of right and wrong. At the same time, you instinctively know where you're wrong. Watch a toddler tell a lie or steal a cookie. He or she already knows what they're doing is wrong. It proves that on some level we are capable of knowing we're wrong - even before we become educated about right and wrong. So look inside yourself to see what brokenness you already know about it.

The next step is to take a full-blown inventory of your wrongs.

• Make a list of all the people who've ever offended, cheated, hurt, slighted or otherwise wronged you. Now ask yourself if you've forgiven them and how reconciled you are to them.
• Make a list of all the people you've ever offended, cheated, hurt, slighted or otherwise wronged. Now ask yourself if you've made amends to them, and paid restitution where necessary.
• Make a list of the people who've been affected, either directly or indirectly, by your sin.
• Make a list of people against whom you hold a grudge or some bitterness, resentment, jealousy or anger. Ask yourself what it's going to take to be reconciled in Christian love to them.
• Make a list of habits or behaviors you have that you know are wrong. Cussing, laziness, greed, lust, judgmental attitudes, cynicism, sarcasm, overeating, drinking too much and other behaviors are common to many of us. They are also wrong.

You can see that these lists will help you identify your brokenness. Once you've identified all of it, keep that list up to date for the rest of your life. In other words, manage your inventory. As you identify these wrongs, there will be a corrective action for you to take. It may mean apologizing and making restitution. It may mean praying or asking for prayer. So make sure you've got your lists up to date, and make sure the appropriate action items are pending for everything on the list.

Finally, there is one last step to owning your brokenness. James 5:16 tells us, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed (of your sins)." What exactly does this mean? There are several places in the Bible where are told to confess our sins to God, in the name of Christ Jesus, and we are forgiven. This is very true. However, God says that if we want to be healed of these sin patterns in our life, if we want to overcome the damages of our sins, then we must confess them to another human being.

So the final part of owning your brokenness, or knowing that you are spiritually poor and in need of a Savior, is to confess your sins - all of them - to someone else. Pick a saint, someone who is trustworthy, and decide to trust them. Be intentional about your confession. Make an appointment. "Hi Joe, listen I've got some things I'd like to confess to you. Would Monday at 9:00 be good for you to meet with me about that?" (It is that easy!) Then have a written list of the things you need to confess and get through it when you meet with Joe.

I believe there is enormous, underestimated merit to living what I call an examined life. Living an examined life means taking an honest and thorough inventory of ourselves, and keeping that inventory up to date. Living an examined life cannot be done alone though. It requires that we stand spiritually naked in front of at least one other human being. In other words, make sure that someone else (besides you) knows the very worst that there is to be known about you.

These, my friend, are definitive steps to "owning one's brokenness." Jesus said, "Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor." (Matthew 5). I don't know about you, but I want to be blessed. So I'm intent on knowing my spiritual poverty!