One of the invaluable benefits of being a Christian for a long period of time is possessing a spiritual memory.

That is to say, the longer one is a believer, the more examples from the past a believer can recall during which God tangibly demonstrated his love in a believer’s life.

In the same way, a longtime Christian also can recall times when he or she didn’t trust in the Lord and didn’t follow his commands — and vividly remember the disasters that ultimately resulted.

You’d think that having such memories in mind would serve as a warning (and an encouragement) to believers to draw on personal history and move in the right direction “this time.”

But we’re human, and sometimes our memories fail us — and we end up sinning in the same ways we did before.