Wrong Attitudes About Sin – Part 2.

“And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lordthy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.”
(1 Samuel 15:27-31) KJV
One wrong attitude we must discard.
“I’m guilty, but I have excuses.”
It’s interesting that in another context, Saul had excuses as well
(1 Samuel 13:11 KJV).
Saul said he sinned:
Because of others.
Saul blamed others for his sin.
He said that the people brought the sheep.
Isn’t this the same with us?
We blame others:
The children, the husband, the wife, the government, the laws, the problems, etc.
Another wrong attitude:
Not the same as others.
Saul compared himself with others.
It’s so easy today to compare yourself with others, isn’t it?
Paul challenges us to imitate Christ.
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV)
We can ourselves compare with Jesus, our Lord.
Having good intentions.
Saul said that he had good intentions. He kept the animals to bring them as sacrifices to the Lord.
I am guilty, but I’m not giving up.
Saul doesn’t want to give up on his pretensions.
He doesn’t want to lose his job.
Saul doesn’t want to give up his sin. Instead of giving up on pride and sin, Saul continued to live in the same way. Interestingly, he lost God’s blessing and Samuel’s friendship,
He still didn’t give up his sin.
Consider Saul’s mistakes, and don’t repeat them!
Follow Jesus, Our Perfect example.
Application for the Christian life:
Do not use excuses to sin.
Get rid of your own desires.
Repent and change your life to be like Jesus.