I love to watch YouTube videos and I just love seeing the people who are speaking out about how they came to believe in God, in Jesus and in His Holy Spirit. What I love most about seeing these videos is listening to them tell their stories. These are some who have been into some really bad things and have tattoos all over their body. They tell stories of where they came from and what they’ve done (drugs, prison, gangs, etc.) before God met them where they were and showed them a different way.
You see, so many of us look on the outside. Some ONLY see the tattoos or only see their past and hold that against them. God doesn’t do that. He challenges all of us to see past that to the new person that they have become. God challenges us to look for the gifts that we all can bring to the table regardless of where we’ve come from or what others think of us. Each of us has a story to tell. Each of us has a piece of the same puzzle that can contribute to the whole picture for the world to see. (Related post: Traversing the hills and valleys of life with grace)
I don’t know your story, but I’d love to hear it. I’d love to know the journey that you took to get to this point in time. Don’t worry, you are not alone. We all carry scars, but no one’s scars are bigger than the ones that are carried by Jesus. He came to this Earth as a innocent child and an innocent man to take our sins up on that cross so that we would have the opportunity to go and be with Him at the end of our lives. Those scars that Jesus has are to remind us that NOTHING that we have done or will do is bigger than His love for us. He knows that we have a gift to bring others to Him as well when we share our own scars, our own fears and our own pain. This is the gift that we all share.
So…. will you?
What did I learn from this? I learned that I am not alone. I learned that there are others who have suffered and continue to suffer through sin and shame, so much so, that we try to hide away from a loving God who only wants us to get to know Him. I learned that my gifts are there to be treasured but also shared, no matter what others say. I learned that I am beautiful in His eyes and that He looks at what is in my heart and what I try to do for Him. I’m not perfect but instead I am perfectly imperfect. Guess what? I can live with that.
So, what can you gain from this? Are you called to be a messenger for Christ? Are you worried that your sin will keep you from calling yourself Christian? Rest assured that God never holds your past against you. He welcomes you to a table with others who have traveled the same road of sin and shame. Aren’t we so lucky that we have a living and loving God who wants us to be a part of His family? So, what can you gain? Peace and a love so pure that it will bring tears to your eyes as you weep in gratitude. Your story has had a perfect ending after all. (Related post: The God of Everything)
A Joyful Mission 