When You Fail Again

Caleb: I told God I was done with that habit, and by Friday I'd done it again. Now I feel like a fraud for even praying.

Hannah: Oh, friend, I get that heavy feeling. Someone once wrote to people he called his little children, and he talked about sin and what happens next. Listen.

Scripture: My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

Caleb: Okay, but he says he writes so they won't sin. So the goal is never messing up? Honestly, that sounds like pressure.

Hannah: That's his hope for them, sure. But look at what comes next. He doesn't say if you fail, you're finished. He says we have a Counselor with the Father.

Caleb: Help how? Like somebody who already knows I'm going to blow it again?

Hannah: He calls Jesus a Counselor with the Father, the righteous one, someone who speaks for us.

Caleb: And the sacrifice part? I've heard the phrase my whole life and never really understood it.

Hannah: The verse says he's the atoning sacrifice for our sins. In plain words, he himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins. And it says it reaches beyond us, to the whole world.

Caleb: So he's the sacrifice for our sins, and that reaches the whole world?

Hannah: The passage points to who he is, the righteous one, our Counselor and the atoning sacrifice. It also talks about walking the way Jesus walked.

Caleb: Huh. That's a relief, actually. I honestly thought I'd used up all my chances.

Hannah: Wherever this week finds you, this passage says that if anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father. When you fall short again, who do you tend to hide from first? Maybe talk to God honestly about it, or reach out to a Christian friend. Follow for more talks like this.