A Crimson Stain

One day last week, my husband and I had pasta for dinner with breadsticks and a side dish of marinara dipping sauce.  We ate in the living room as we often do to watch a TV show together while we ate. After the show was over, I picked up my dishes and took them to the sink, intending on picking up Tom's dishes after cleaning some of the ones in the already-full sink. Before I had a chance to pick his up, I heard Tom cry out in frustration. He had spilled his dish of marinara sauce in the living room.  Thinking that it couldn't be too terrible, I finished washing the dish I was holding and then went to see the damage.

It was bad. It was hard to believe that much marinara came from one little bowl!  It seemed like it had multiplied its volume when spilled.  Several large puddles of marinara on the floor and a whole lot of splattered splotches spread out in many directions, including on the side of the couch and our ottoman. It was one of those moments where you stand staring at the mess for a couple of minutes in disbelief and dumbfounded. We worked hard to clean it up with what little Resolve we had left in the house; we were pretty sure we got the stains off of the couch and ottoman, but even now, there is a residual pinkish stain on the carpet where the large puddles had been. We'll have to rent a carpet cleaning machine soon to try to remove the rest of the stain.

Having already spilled orange juice in the living room only a week or less earlier, Tom was very mad at himself. I kept telling him that it was okay, that these were just things, and that we would get it cleaned up. It's hard not to berate yourself when you make a big mess or blunder, but the reactions of others around us can either make our anger worse or comfort our discouraged hearts.

Looking at the remaining stain on the carpet reminded me of how our sin appears to God. No matter how much we try to hide it or "clean" it up using our own methods or give it a new face or name, He still sees it. We can either try to keep hiding it, or we can accept the ultimate solution to remove the stain permanently:  accept the crimson-stained Grace offered by Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, who died for our sins, His body covered with the crimson stains of His blood that give us eternal life.

Until we pass away from this world, we will struggle with our sin nature, we will struggle with our mistakes and failings, and we will be grieved when we see the results of sin in our relationships. When we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, the stain of our sin looks ugly and sometimes makes us feel angry and helpless. If the stains of your sins don't grieve you, then it's very likely that your heart is not right with God. We should ask forgiveness of the Lord and of anyone we have wounded when we sin, and then move forward with repentance -- correcting the problem, or rather, allowing the Lord to correct us.

Tom and I have cleaned up many stains from our off-white carpet:  mud, pink nail polish, orange juice, dog messes, soda...marinara sauce.  The marinara sauce had to have been one of the biggest spills we've had to clean up, but the process was the same as always:  sop up as much as we can with a clean paper towel and then use Resolve and a damp rag on the rest.  Every time we see a new stain, we must give it up to the Lord for He makes all things new! 

Fall to an addiction or old habit again?  Give it to Jesus!  He is a God of new beginnings!  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

"He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'" (Revelation 21:5)

Holding a grudge or bitterness in your heart toward someone who wounded you in the past?  Give it to Jesus!  He forgives those who will also have a heart of forgiveness. (Mat 6:14-15) "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

It is the Lord's desire for us to love Him by knowing Him deeply and to love others. When a Christian brother or sister is discouraged or struggling with sin (even if they are blind to it), we ought to love them by encouraging them to turn their eyes upon the Lord for hope, comfort, and forgiveness upon repentance. How essential it is for Christians to be in fellowship with one another! The Church is not a building; it is the fellowship of believers, and it is God's bride whom He loves very much!  He intended for the Church to be full of love, encouragement and mutual accountability, not hypocrisy.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:23-25)

We are sorrowed by our sins and by the stains of our sins, not only because they serve as a poor witness to others for Christ, but especially because they grieve our Lord and Savior! Our sin seems to laugh back at us and mock the crimson-stained hands that offered us Grace and eternal life; it is right for us to hate our sin.

 "Though the sorrow may last for the night, His Joy comes in the morning!" -- from the song I'm Trading My Sorrows and taken from the verse Psalm 30:5