When the past come back to haunt me...

just thinking about some recent conversation with my wife and quasi-family members who feed us every Sunday...

Do our sins return to us in the form of punishment? Do we "get what we deserve" (said with a slight wag of the head and a raised eyebrow, this phrase can be quite judgmental)? More specifically, are we Christians supposed to believe that God punishes us later on down the line for things we did in our past?

Here's my recent take on the subject: NO.

The idea of "Godly sorrow" leading to repentance comes to mind for me. I think this tug of conscience emotion should be carefully contrasted with the GUILT dished out like ice cream from Satan's Pity-Party Ice Cream truck. That stuff's addictive...but anybody who's had a double scoop of his "Rocky Road" knows how heavy that stuff can sit on the stomach...

If one seeks forgiveness in earnest and repents of this sin, God forgives. In fact, unless my Sunday school teachers lied to me, God cannot even see the sin any more.

So no, I don't believe God punishes his children for sins He has already wiped clean.

HOWEVER, I do very strongly believe that our Father may allow us to be "sifted" by things we misjudge as punishments for our wrongdoings. But here lies the subtle, yet crucial difference: God allows these ills to befall us as a testing and improving of our faith.

The test I imagine that is most often failed is the one where we get to thinking that God is bringing hellfire upon us for our past failures. I don't think God plays double jeopardy. When we say, "yep...I've deserved this and I'm paying for my sin", we rob Jesus of glory! Yes, of course I deserve it! But the struggle is a test, not a scolding.

This realization is very subtle but I think crucial to the winning of the battle. The battle, in this case, is won when we turn and, as my RA's learned recently, "F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God)".

It is logical that we would and should be punished for our bad choices...but that kind of talk shoots a few holes in what is otherwise an awesome, flawless good news story worth believing by a vengeful world.