Broken over Sin

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14) 
  
Many people today (in the younger generation) don't have any idea about a “Revival.” It is a series of protracted meetings where a church meets every night for an extended period of time. The Word of God is preached and the Gospel is clearly presented. The whole goal is to win people to Christ and to encourage believers to walk with Jesus.   
  
I will never forget an incident from years ago. I preached a revival in a church down south. After the service, the Minister of Music of the church came up to me and said, “What do you do if you know something is wrong as a believer; you know what you're doing is not right, but you don't want to change?”   
  
God gave me some spiritual discernment at that moment. I looked at him and said, “You are having an affair right now, aren't you?” He hung his head and said, “Yes, no one knows it, but the problem is that I don't want to let go.”  
  
This is what happens in a person's life when there are no tears over personal sin; we tend to justify what we want. He would go on to lose his family, his church, and his ministry for a season in life. When the tears came, the brokenness followed. God restored him, but it would never be the same. The impact of his life would never reach as far as it had before.  
  
We have to be very intentional about grounding ourselves in Christ and rooting ourselves in His truth. We don’t want to go down a similar path as this man where we justify what we want rather than turning from our sin and walking down the path God has marked for us. The longer we allow sin to linger without dealing with it, the more difficult it will be to walk away from that sin.   
  
Are you struggling to walk away from sin in your life? Are you engaging in a wrong behavior, but you are not broken over this sin? If so, I pray that the Holy Spirit would begin to convict you and restore you. You must feel brokenhearted over your sinful behavior and move toward what is right. Repentance means that you turn from your sin and move in the opposite direction. Remember, God will use anything necessary to bring you back to Himself, even your brokenness.