Ask Your Preacher - Archives
“Raging Consequences”
Categories: CONQUERING SIN, RELATIONSHIPS, WITH MANKINDIn a rage of anger, I threatened my wife and grandson. My wife forgave me, God forgave me, but my grandson’s mother will not. Why do I have to live with that sin for the rest of my life?Sincerely,
Grieving Grandpa
Dear Grieving Grandpa,
Maybe you will have to live with it; maybe you won’t. The physical consequences of sin still remain after forgiveness from God and even after forgiveness by our fellow man. God says that we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7). When we behave immorally toward a woman, lose our temper, mistreat others, are bad examples for our children, etc. – there are consequences to those choices. God does offer forgiveness if we place our faith in Him (read “What Must I Do To Be Saved” for more details), but that forgiveness doesn’t remove the consequences of sin in this life. David sinned when he committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:2-4); God forgave David of the sin when David repented (2 Sam 12:13), but David’s child still died as a consequence of that sin (2 Sam 12:14).
We can’t tell you what the long-term consequences of this sin of anger will be, but part of being faithful is humbly facing those consequences head on.
