We must admit it. Sometimes it just makes us feel better about ourselves if we wallow around in the misery of our sin for a while. We entertain thoughts like, "I can't come to God now, not after all I've done." OR "Maybe if I'm miserable lo...ng enough for my mistake, then God will forgive me & love me again."
Satan LOVES this stuff!!, because he knows it is just the wrong perspective that keeps us from growing in Christ!!
Swing the pendulum to the other extreme & you encounter the legalism & lovelessness that characterizes so many Christian lives. Either for fear of failure or in an attempt at outward righteousness, they construct rules stricter than God's own guidelines, building a facade of holiness that is devoid of God's true Spirit.
God's Word says differently! Throw off your shroud of morbid introspection & futile attempts at self-righteousness. We didn't earn God's salvation by our performance, & we won't achieve sanctification by it, either.
We begin by faith & we continue to walk in it with Christ for the rest of our lives.
Be gone sour faces! Get lost gloomy spirits! Victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of Him, we have no condemnation. We have nothing left but to rejoice in God our Savior! :-D