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God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together,  he gave me a fresh start.

Source: Psalm 18:20-24 (The Message)

What is my role in all this? God does not invade my body and make me change my mind. That is not how it works. I must change my mind (aka repent).  I must give up and give him all the pieces. I must humble myself and admit that I have missed God’s goal (aka sinned). Many days I am reluctant. God is patient. 

What is wrong with a half-way job? God’s goal is that I have a complete life. I can hear my dad now. In his mind, there was nothing worse than a half-way job. And … he would let me know it if I hadn’t done it well. Not perfect but well. God wants me to have it all and live a complete life. God is God. He can do it. I can’t. 

What will God do? God will make my life complete in the work of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus has paid the price with his glorious sacrifice on the cross. Jesus is raised to a new life and sits in power at God’s right hand. I have life in that work. I am a new creation. I have a fresh start. God is in a good mood.  

We may define sin as follows: sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. Sin is here defined in relation to God and his moral law. Sin includes not only individual acts, such as stealing, lying, and committing murder, but also attitudes that are contrary to the attitudes God requires of us.  [1]

[1] Grudem, W. (2020). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Second Edition, p. 619). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.