Amazing Grace

Have you ever heard these phases? “I am such a failure.” “I am nothing but a screw up.” “I’m just not good enough.” “God doesn’t want someone like me.” “How could God love me when I am such a bad person?” How many times have we tried to assure folks that God does love them anyway, that He does want them, that God don’t make junk?

What is truly sad, though, is when we hear these very same feelings pour out of Christians – or even out of our own mouths. What is even worse is that we convince ourselves that God will never accept us because of the dirty, often secret, sins we harbor. After all, we were supposed to get rid of all those terrible things that we did, and that we do, the moment we were lifted out of the water of baptism “to walk in newness of life”. We are now new creatures (Romans 6), and we are not supposed to commit the same old sins that we had gotten used to doing. We are supposed to be “transformed” with a renewed mindset (Romans 12). And when we do sin, (and boy do we sin!) we feel dirtier, and more worthless, and try to hide our sin, and ourselves, from God, much like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

A good friend of mine recently sent me this story. It comes from the book “How to Say NO to a Stubborn Habit," by Erwin Lutzer:

"A man recently released from prison was having difficulty adjusting to his freedom. He tried this experiment: He took a glass bottle with a distinct shape and crammed it full of wires, some small and some large. After sometime had passed, he smashed the bottle with a hammer. The result? Most of the wires retained the shape of the bottle. Those wires had to be straightened out, one by one. The man had established his point: It is possible to be technically free and still retain the traits of bondage. Even though a man is liberated, he must adjust to his freedom and carefully dismantle the habits of the past."

What a great example of our new-found freedom in Christ! Although we were filled with sin, Jesus took that sin upon his shoulders in order that we might become righteousness to God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Yet, we are still weak and we are still tempted – and we still sin. But Jesus, our High Priest, sympathizes with us (Hebrews 4:15), and, if we continue to follow His path, He will fellowship with us and He will help us to straighten out each wire, one by one (1 John 1:7).

Thank God for such Amazing Grace!

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:7,9