Missing the Mark
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ”
In the last several years, my family and I have come to enjoy the recreational sport of archery. We started with getting the kids involved, and as we have watched them grow to love it more and more, I have joined in, and my wife is also becoming increasingly more interested in joining in. While watching the children progress at hitting the bullseye, they have also become more competitive. They try to hone their focus to hit the center spot more consistently with each round and every shot. While participating in league shoots, I have watched them get excited when they shoot well and score high, but I have also watched them become frustrated when they don't shoot well and score low. Sometimes they will be shooting well and then make a couple of poor shots. After that, you can see them become emotionally and mentally defeated, and they just continue to spiral downhill from there. I have grown to appreciate these moments because it provides an opportunity to engage them on a personal level and teach and guide them through those struggles.
While witnessing their struggles at archery, I am reminded that life can emulate a similar scenario. We can go through times when we are doing well in our walk with Christ. We feel that we are "hitting the mark," so to speak. But sometimes, when we get comfortable or overconfident, we can slip up. We can fall into an old sinful habit and maybe even begin to backslide when life gets rough. The influx of stress then triggers negative emotions and clouds our judgment, and may cause us to spiral out of control for, hopefully, a short time. We are likely to feel the overwhelming guilt and shame of having "missed the mark" in these moments.
Interestingly, when we look at the biblical meaning of sin, the Hebrew and Greek translations mean to "miss the mark" to "fall short or miss the goal." What mark do we miss? The mark of holiness, an unattainable goal as sinners who, apart from Christ, are "dead in our trespasses."
Romans 2:23 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way. ”
Psalm 14:1, 53:1-3 and Romans 3:10-12 says, "None is righteous, no, not one: no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." Isaiah 64:6 says "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
Sometimes it is good to reflect on who we were in our unregenerate state before Christ saved us. Not to dwell on the past but to remind us of our hopeless state before He saved us. This is why personal testimonies are so meaningful and encouraging to hear, showing us the abundant grace God bestowed upon us through Christ when considering the worthless state we were in apart from His saving grace. Christ in His great love and mercy brought us out of a body of sin and death and into a spirit of life (Read Ephesians 2).
When we take the time to regularly reflect on the excellencies of Christ and what He has done for us, we can rest in the fact that our sins are fully paid for. When we mess up, we don't have to dwell on our mistakes or be brought low by them. We only need to remember and be grateful for what He has done for us and in faith, take another step forward, trusting that the Spirit of God is truly working in us for our sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
When I see the emotional and mental downward spiral in my children at archery each time they miss the points they expect for their score, I am reminded that I have seen this similar behavior in my own life concerning sin. I have seen it in the life of others I invest time with. If we are honest, most of us likely tend to dwell on the past, to dwell on our failures and shortcomings. It's human nature, and if we continue to do so in an unhealthy manner, we unconsciously take our eyes off Christ, begin to focus on ourselves, even though the intent may be good. We eventually succumb to the guilt and shame of failure, which lies to us and tricks us into thinking we are unworthy of God's love. From there, a downward spiral is almost inevitable.
In these moments of failure, where our sinful desires get the best of us, may we never lose sight of the cross. May we always recognize our need for the Savior and never lose sight of our righteous standing in Him. May we never run from Him but instead always run to Him. Like I told my kids when they struggle with hitting the target, take a step back, relax, take a breather, remember the fundamentals and principles of making good shots, and focus on making the next shot a good one while not dwelling on the last one. This is not an easy thing to do. It takes discipline and dedication, but each time this occurs, I see them growing in maturity and overcoming those behaviors and mental struggles that brought them low, causing them to lose sight of the goal.
As believers, we can do the same. We can take a step back, look at the situation, reflect on what missteps led us to failure, and recenter ourselves on the fundamentals and principles of the Christian walk. The key is progress, not perfection. We have Christ who paid for ALL our sins, past, present, and future. We have the scriptures to teach, guide and encourage us. We have prayer to make our petitions and concerns known to the living God. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide us, give us strength, wisdom, discernment, and so many more blessings that help us overcome our sinful desires so we can increasingly grow in our love and pursuit of Christ. If we remain vigilant, seeking to recognize and overcome our sinful desires while walking in the power of God's Spirit, we will love God more and more, and in genuine love, humility, and confession, He is faithful to make us more and more like Christ and less and less like our old selves.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 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. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
May we always have an awareness of the sinful desires which seek to control us, but in that awareness may we walk by the Spirit and in the truth of God's Word so we may effectively mature in godly discipline, knowledge, and wisdom so as to never allow those sinful desires to deter us from godly pursuit.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
