God doesn’t give up on me because I fell again, does He?
Question:
Good Morning,
I finally rededicated my life to the Lord. I was doing well. Then I felt strong enough to invite a friend over. Huge mistake! One thing led to another and we had sex.
I feel awful. I don't want to continue this or ever engage in this again. It's to the point I'm willing to cut our friendship off.
My plan is to continue with the Lord. I'm feeling horrible about what I've done. I'm wondering is this "falling or stumbling" in Psalms 37:24 has the same meaning as in my case? Yes, I fell, and I don't want any part of this person anymore, nor do I ever plan on opening a way that has easy access to me falling again. I'm wondering does this falling or stumbling refer to my case? Does it mean that even though I fell and do not plan to stay there but get up again that the Lord upholds me with His hand?
Answer:
Yes, Psalms 37:24 applies. "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand." So does "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity" (Proverbs 24:16).
As hard as we try, we all sin and sometimes we fall back into familiar sins. The distinction between the righteous and the wicked is that the righteous will not allow sin to hold him back. It is not good to sin, but when we sin, we get up, look at what went wrong, correct our mistakes and try again. It is only in this manner that we will ever get out of sin.
When you realize that another person played a significant role in your stumbling, then the right thing to do is to remove the cause of stumbling.
I'm guessing that you invited a man over to the privacy of your place. That is a mistake because there is no one there to remind you that you need to behave yourself. Because it is your own place, you are comfortable there and there is a tendency to let your guard down. Finally, what many focus on is preventing the actual act of fornication, forgetting that there are many sins prior to fornication that lead up to the actual act of intercourse. Things like: sexual touching (I Corinthians 7:1), sexual talk (Ephesians 5:3-7), and lust and lewd behavior (Romans 13:13-14). By the time intercourse is about to happen you are too caught up in passion to say "no." The time to say "no" is before you start down the path that leads to fornication. "Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall" (Proverbs 4:14-16).
