Lesson 19: God's Power Can Return to Us – Remember Your Previous Behavior

1 John 1:8-9 - “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When we confess our sinful behavior, we acknowledge or admit our current situation. We have sinned against God by not loving Him like He deserves. But if we are ever going to get around to confessing our sin, we first need to remember what our previous behavior was. We need to recall those early days of being saved and how we passionately longed to be with God.

Herein lies our problem: instead of remembering how we used to love God so we can confess our current problem of not loving God, we give in to denial. As soon as the Word of God convicts us of this, we deny we have a problem in the first place. We assume the preacher is talking about our neighbor, our spouse, that other person in the pew, or those other people in the next town! Just to make sure they know it is them and not us, we give them the elbow or stare at them, or nod our head in their direction. Before we can face a problem, however, we first have to admit we have one. For example, how can a person be taught unless they admit they need to be taught? How can a doctor treat a patient unless the patient admits they need a doctor? If this is true in the physical realm, then how much truer is it in the spiritual realm!

We often do not stop there. If denying does not work, we still have no desire to remember, so we start blaming. We might say, "My health is not what it used to be," or "My job requires so much of my time," or "My spouse does not love God like I do and it is hard." But blaming others for all your problems will get you nowhere. In fact, sometimes it is downright embarrassing.


How many times have we blamed someone else for something that went wrong, only to discover later that is was we who were wrong? This is often the situation with us. We can blame all kinds of people or things as to why we do not love God like we should, but do we really think that God, Who is beside us right now, is going to believe it? No, He knows us better than we know ourselves.

That is why we must realize that denying or blaming others for our spiritual condition is not going to change a thing! In fact, all it guarantees is that our condition will never change. We must take that first step of repentance and confession, and remember our previous behavior so we can confess our current behavior. Unless we do, our lives will never change, and we will never get that first love for Jesus back again.

* Memorize Psalm 51:1-4 - “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”