A True Christian Will Mourn His Sin

His sobbing could not be controlled. The whimpers, sniffles and occasional wail made it quite difficult to deliver the message. It was evident that he loved his grandmother immensely, and he was deeply grieved that she had passed away.

Some would no doubt have called his actions excessive. But his pitiable condition was exactly what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Blessed are those who mourn.”

Jesus wasn’t talking about funerals, of course. He was talking about the proper feelings a Christian will have towards his sin.

Now you might say, “Come now. This is preposterous! Christians are not supposed to be so morbid.” This is true. Christians will not be morbid, but they will be mournful when it comes to their failures before God.

The image would have been quite vivid to the people of Jesus’ day. In ancient times it was common to hire professional mourners for funerals. These people, typically women, had only one job. They were to weep and wail all day long. They didn’t cater the meal or set up a nice flower arrangement. For hours, and even days, all they did was sit outside weeping, howling, and crying out in anguish for the dead.

This, says Jesus, is how you can determine whether or not you are a true child of God: If the Spirit of God really dwells within you, there will be times when you find yourself tangled in emotional duress because you have failed to uphold God’s commandments.

I recognize that this may sound ridiculous. Most people could care less about their sin. Sure, they may regret that they upset someone. Perhaps they will feel a little sad that they hurt another person’s feelings. Yet, if the truth be told, most people don’t take it all that seriously. The normal response is to downplay it, ignore it or laugh it off.

To say that someone can be so grieved that he could be said to mourn his sin can certainly sound preposterous. Even to some who profess to be Christians it can sound absurd. Nevertheless, Jesus reminds us that this is a distinguishing trait that marks a true believer from a false professor.

When it comes down to it, a Christian will be like Christ. Christ no doubt demonstrated a cheerfulness and contentment that would have been in keeping with the law of God. However, the Bible never gives any such indication that he did. Instead it emphasizes the fact that he was a Man of Sorrows who was acquainted with grief. He was one who wept and whose bowels ached because of the existence of sin. So when you look at the overall tenor of Christ’s life you find that his life was one of mourning.

Obviously he was not mourning his own sin. As God incarnate, he had no sin to mourn. Despite this one difference, He establishes a pattern. And those who are Christians will mimic the One who first mourned their sin enough to come down and do away with it in His flesh on the cross.

If you are such one who laments his sin with great passion, you can be sure that you are the blessed of God. Even if you mourn the fact that you do not mourn enough, you may rest in knowing that Christ has become your satisfaction and there is comfort laid up for you in eternity.

On the other hand, if all your life sin has meant little to you, you must change this and begin to grieve the fact that you have offended God. If you do not, you will find that your sorrows will be multiplied a thousandfold for all eternity.