1 Samuel 7:8
“And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.”
When Samuel was taking the leadership role over Israel, he was taking a country that was spiritually bankrupt. Eli overlooked sin because he didn’t want to deal with the sins of his sons. Because of this, Israel had set up gods to worship, lived wicked lifestyles and had become captives to the Philistines. When you see the condition of Israel when Samuel took over, you will see that sin left them the same way it will leave you when it has taken its course.
First, sin leaves you without confidence. Israel had no confidence in their relationship with God, no confidence to pray and felt that they could only get God’s attention through someone other than themselves. Sin always takes your confidence from you. You may go confidently into sin, but you will come out being skeptical of everything you do. One of the greatest reasons Satan tries to get Christians to sin is because he knows it will take their confidence. A Christian without confidence is a Christian who is lacking spiritual results. You need confidence in your Christian life if you are going to make an impact on those around you. Don’t let sin take that from you.
Second, sin leaves you fearful. It was incredible how afraid Israel had become. This was the nation that saw God part the Red Sea. This was the nation that had seen Jericho’s great walls fall and the mightiest armies destroyed with God’s help. Once sin left them, they were afraid of armies they could easily defeat. Sin will always leave you looking over your shoulder wondering what everyone is saying about you. It is amazing how a person who has fallen in sin becomes once they come back to God. They always have the feeling that everyone is against them, and this is the tragic result of sin.
Third, sin leaves you spiritually bankrupt. Instead of praying to God themselves, Israel asked Samuel to pray for them. Sin always leaves you with the feeling that the only way you can get anything from God is if someone else does the asking. You will get to the point where you will ask others to pray because you will think God won’t listen to you because you’ve sinned. Don’t let sin rob you of the confidence to glean God’s truths from His Word. Don’t let sin rob you of the faith to pray. Sin will leave you spiritually bankrupt believing that only others can help you in these areas.
Fourth, sin leaves you with a defeatist spirit. Israel didn’t believe they could conquer the Philistines all because sin had taken the conquering spirit away and left them with a defeatist spirit. You will find that sin always leaves you believing that you can’t do anything for God. It is sad to see how sin has left those who sinned with a spirit that is totally defeated and with no vision to conquer.
In all of these areas, you can reverse them if you will confess your sin to God and believe in His forgiving power. Sin may leave you with these four destructive attitudes, but if you believe in God’s power to forgive, you will be able to remember that “…greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Let me encourage you to remember how sin leaves you the next time you are tempted to sin. You are no exception to sin’s destructive path. Don’t go down that path if you don’t want to experience its crippling power.