Have you ever prayed the prayer to become a Christian? When you did, did you expect things to fall in to place and your life to be peachy and fun from that day on? And then that very day you sinned in some minuscule way and felt terrible about it? Like you questioned your decision to follow Christ and your own sincerity in that very moment?
I know how you feel. When I sin, I want to either hide or run away, but that feeling of guilt is not a sentencing of guilt, it is the Holy Spirit convicting you so God can do a mighty work to and through you.
A great question to ask your self after you sin is "Now what?"
And the answer, is to turn to God and ask for forgiveness. Cru has a great resource for this as explained in their "Spirit-filled Life" booklets called Spiritual Breathing.
https://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/the-spirit-filled-life.html
Spiritual breathing (exhaling the impure and inhaling the pure) is an exercise in faith that enables you to continue to experience God's love and forgiveness.
- Exhale -- confess your sin -- agree with God concerning your sin and thank Him for His forgiveness of it, according to 1 John 1:9 and Hebrews 10:1-25. Confession involves repentance - a change in attitude and action.
- Inhale -- surrender the control of your life to Christ, and appropriate (receive) the fullness of the Holy Spirit by faith. Trust that He now directs and empowers you; according to the command of Ephesians 5:18, and the promise of 1 John 5:14, 15.
Here is a poem I wrote many years ago about breathing in the spirit.
Here I am, in need of you
The only way I can be made new
My life is filthy and unclean
I cannot hide, expose my need
I need a savior, redeemer
A provider and friend
Who brings peace and joy
So my heart can mend
You breathe in me, and make me whole
Pure and perfect, you cleanse my soul
Your word is complete, etched in me
My soul, my heart, my life set free
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