You’ve done something wrong, you cry about it, apologize, think of changes you need to input in your life, and then move on. That’s the normal attitude for someone who lives by faith, but there’s something in between the lines that we can sometimes miss big time.

The problem that led you make that mistake is still there. The mistake in itself was just a consequence of that big problem, which often is completely ignored because of its invisibility to the human eye. Only God can see it.

People treat this problem by feeling their minds with distractions so they don’t have to face it. But it doesn’t go away, in fact, the longer it’s there, the bigger it gets.

To look inside of us and ponder about why we act the way we do can be a scary thing to do. Thus the reason why so many people prefer to avoid it altogether and only deal with the exterior consequences.

I think that if I could picture this place inside of us, it could be easily compared to a dark cave, the further you go in, the darker it gets. And why? Because there are things about us that are shameful, humiliating, even disgusting sometimes. It’s in our human nature, they accumulate with the things we went through when growing up, the things we witnessed that made an impact on us, and the things that traumatized us somehow. We carry all of these things around us everyday, every minute, and every second.

So it’s useless to deal with what you did. It’s useless to forget about it and move on thinking you’ll change because you’ve learned your lesson. The only way you’ll really change is when you get inside that cave and deal with the root of your problem. Faith cannot help you here – it’s something you have to do it or else, you’ll always be in the same cycle. Sometimes up, sometimes down. Good days, bad days. Everything going well for you, everything going bad for you.

Stop and ponder why. Then deal with it. Don’t let yourself move on until you’re sure you’ve dealt with those hidden inner problems. God can help, but He won’t do that for you. There’s no place for friends in this process. You’re alone in this and that’s the only way you’ll ever get it right.

God taught us to convert from our evil ways. To convert is to change entirely, not just change from doing this or that. Convert by changing who you are inside.

(Written by Cristiane Cardoso)