Sinning Can Lead to Improvement and Improvement Can Lead to Forgiveness and Thus Happiness

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

~Albert Einstein

 

When I say "choose life" I do not mean it as an anti-abortion slogan--I mean it in a spiritual way--to choose the positive, to choose a healthy way to live one's life. When you choose doom, gloom, and disaster, in the way you perceive a happening, you condemn yourself to choosing death or unhappiness over life or happiness. Feeling negatively is like death--feeling happiness is choosing life. To feel so happy every day of the year, like it is one's birthday every day of the year--is in the palm of your hand. It is an option. If you look at every happening, as if it is G-d's Will, then even negative or seemingly negative happenings will have a silver lining. We cannot control what happens to us; but we can control HOW we perceive these happenings, and whether they put us in a bad way or a good way. If we say to ourselves that G-d, who is all goodness, wants this to happen, then we can wait for the outcome which could be a positive not negative outcome. We must be patient. It will inevitably rain and thunderstorm, but after the rains, a sun comes out. April showers bring May flowers. And we wait through the Jewish "Counting of the Omer" till Lag B' Omer when we light the bonfires of passion and we dance around them--and then soon, 25 days later, we celebrate Shavuot, yes, the day when Moses received the 10 Commandments from Adonai. We have goodness, the Commandments, to follow, and this is our happiness and path to redemption. If we study Torah we will know what is right and what is wrong. We go through rain--which are trials and tribulations-- and then the sun comes out--the goodness of The Commandments light our way. The rain can be perceived as sin. We are not perfect people and very few of us can claim to be a tzaddik (a righteous one). But we do sin, or perhaps not quite sin, but do a "wrong-doing" because we are not perfect, and then we are forgiven if we repent, if we perform teshuvah. And we need to show improvement as part of our teshuvah: if we are to continue to be forgiven for our mistakes.

What is teshuvah? "If a person transgresses any of the mitzvot of the Torah, whether a positive command or a negative command - whether willingly or inadvertently - when he repents, and returns from his sin, he must confess before God, blessed be, He as [Numbers 5:6-7] states: "If a man or a woman commit any of the sins of man... they must confess the sin that they committed." This refers to a verbal confession. This confession is a positive command. How does one confess: He states: "I implore You, God, I sinned, I transgressed, I committed iniquity before You by doing the following. Behold, I regret and am embarrassed for my deeds. I promise never to repeat this act again." http://www.oakparkjewish.org/library/article_cdo/aid/911888/jewish/Teshuvah-Chapter-One.htm

G-d hopefully will forgive us; and people hopefully will show mercy and forgive us; if we forgive them when they make a mistake. And this forgiveness is about compassion--and when we receive compassion--we get a feeling of happiness because this is what love is all about. 

 

We are happy when we are loved. Sinning can lead to reform and reform can lead to a feeling of being loved, by G-d and by people, and that is the process of human nature if one uses G-d as a mentor and we let His teachings guide us.