1 Samuel 31:9
“And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.”
One of the tragedies about Saul’s fall from grace is that sin won. Rarely do I like to admit that sin won in someone’s life, but it did win in Saul’s life. No, sin did not win when it came to his eternity, but it won when it came to his testimony and the testimony of Christ. There are many times when a person sins when they can recover and continue serving the LORD. In those cases, sin does not win. Sin only wins when it is the cause of someone’s death. I find, that when sin wins there are some tragic results.
First, when sin wins, you lose your dignity. When they came to take the spoils, the found the body of Saul and stripped him of his armor. Sin will always strip you of the armor you once wore. The armor of character will be stripped when sin wins. The dignity you once had for your stand for God will always be gone. Sin always strips away any dignity a person had. How sad to once be known and respected only to be stripped of it because you allowed sin to win in your life.
Second, when sin wins God’s name is marred. This is probably the greatest tragedy about sin winning. If our name is marred that is fine, but don’t let the name of God be marred. All that Saul stood for was destroyed when he died because of sin. The good he did in the beginning of his life is most often forgotten because of his sin. Sin will always mar God’s name in the eyes of those who looked up to the one who lost the battle to sin. If anything ought to motivate you to continue fighting sin it should be because you don’t want God’s name marred because of your sin. God is not the One Who committed the sin, but sadly He is often the beneficiary of the questions of why He allowed a person to sin. Whenever sin wins in your life, you will bring reproach to the name of Christ.
Third, when sin wins the heathen are emboldened. The Philistines didn’t let up after they destroyed Saul, but they continued the destruction of God’s people. When sin wins, it won’t stop with you, but it will continue to go after others. It will go after those you influence. It will try to tell them that if you fell then what is the purpose of doing right. You must always realize that sin never just affects you, but it will always affect those around you.
Finally, when sin wins it gives the heathen ammunition that God is not a good God. If anything ought to motivate you to continue doing right it is the fact that the heathen will have the ammunition they want to hold your spiritual head up and say, “See, his God wasn’t big enough to help him.” Though God gives us a free choice, that is not how the enemy will portray it. They will always portray that God wasn’t big enough to help you.
Sin doesn’t have to win in your life. If you are reading this devotional, then that means you still have a fighting chance to defeat sin. You must simply get up and ask God to help you overcome sin. Sin can only win if you stay down. I encourage you to keep getting back up and keep fighting your sin until you win. If you will defeat sin, then your victory over sin gives the opposite result of what happens when sin wins. For the sake of Christ, you need to get up and keep fighting your sin.