If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
1 Corinthians 10:12
Every rock climber knows that they can’t simply quit in the middle of a climb. They must keep moving—whether their next foothold is up, down, or sideways—in order to reach their goal. They know at the end of the day, there will most likely be some scrapes and bruises and a few sore muscles, but the experience and the joy of accomplishing their goal makes it all very much worth it. Regardless of their experience, however, if they become too confident and too comfortable, mistakes happen. If they lose their focus and stop paying attention, they could easily lose their footing and fall.
When we become too comfortable and confident in our faith, the danger of falling into sin increases significantly. We often think we are more capable of resisting temptation than we really are, and that’s when we get into trouble. Like rock climbers secured to ropes on the side of a mountain, sometimes we get lulled into a false sense of security. We may feel secure in our salvation but aren’t growing in our faith, and if we don’t keep moving, we can easily fall. We become prideful of our understanding of the Gospel, but we don’t live our lives like Jesus did or allow Him to change our hearts, and we inevitably fall. We fall when we stop paying attention, when we stop moving in the right direction, and when we stop listening to our Guide. And when we don’t have a footing in Jesus, we mostly just end up getting tangled in the rope with nothing beneath us but a very hard place to land.
Sin will always trip you up when you stop paying attention and when you’re not prepared to handle temptation when it comes. If you have a few scrapes and bruises due to some painful falls into sin, don’t quit. You just need the right Guide and perhaps more rope, but you have to keep moving. God is faithful! He is there to show you where to step, to remind you to keep your eyes on Him, and to help you stay focused as you walk through life with Him. He even promises to show you a way out when temptation threatens to knock you off course (1 Corinthians 10:13). Jesus will use every one of your mistakes to teach you to trust Him, to prepare you for future mountains, and to help you to walk in obedience, even when it hurts a little. If you do misstep, He won’t just stand there and watch you fall. He will catch you and help you continue the course strong. And the experience and the joy of accomplishing your goal makes it all very much worth it. You are loved!