Living in the cycle of “sin and forgiveness” is in reality the state in which each of us spends our earthly sojourn. We vacillate between feelings of peace in the spirit to depression and feelings of unworthiness over the burden and stain of repeated sins. When I am in the spirit and infused with feelings of love and praise, and walking with God, my emotions take me to the mountains and heights of my Christian walk. But when my sins drags me into the valleys of despair, my soul feels guilt and regret, and shame, and the accuser’s words shout out, “Are you sure you are even saved at all? “ I think we often forget that our sanctification is a long process, and we will have to stumble many times, and fall from time to time, along this spiritual highway. Yet we need to be reminded that Our Lord made provision for us, after all, did Christ not make an acceptable sacrifice once for all sins? Certainly, we cannot grieve the spirit with impunity, and Luther’s hyperbolic words, “sin boldly” do not offer any solution. So then, we have to keep 1John1:9 in mind each day, keep going back to it, Christ assured us that we are His children from beginning to end. Soli Deo Gloria