1021) Today’s “minute” poses a question I really need to understand the answer, and I figured, maybe others of you need to understand this, too. The question is: How Long Do You Have to Pay? For all the things you and I have done that were wrong, how long do we need to beat up on ourselves? I know the “spiritual/biblical” answer to this question, but experientially, how long must I hold these things over my head? Good question!

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, we find the answer to the above question in Paul’s example. He states in verse 9 some of the horrible things he did to Christians. He does not sugar-coat them. He does not make an excuse for them; he simply states a fact. BUT, in verse 10, Paul tells me how long I should “pay” for the wrong choices I make. The answer is that once you confess to God, and he grants forgiveness, it’s over (as far as making yourself pay.) I am no longer paying because God paid for it already by the death of his son.

Does this mean that I just “brush” what I did off and go on as if nothing happened? I don’t think so. Paul states in multiple places in the New Testament many of the things he did against the church. Why? So he doesn’t forget. The difference with Paul is that he uses the memory of these things to help him make different choices in the future and not for beating himself up, which serves no good purpose.

Some of us make ourselves “pay” for crimes we have done for a longer period of time than the average murderer spends in prison. Don’t you think it’s time to stop paying?