As usual, my mind's been busy thinking and remembering and regretting. Forgiveness is a funny thing. Through God's mercy, we don't get what we deserve (death for sins) and through his grace we receive what we don't deserve (forgiveness and eternal life). Now, I can understand all this perfectly well. I know that I'm forgiven for the sins that I've repented of. However, some of these sins still come back to haunt me. Most of my thoughts this weekend involved such haunting.
Some people think that Christians are people that constantly beat themselves up and think of themselves as horrible people; you might even get that impression from me. Well, while I might have guilt issues, that's an unfair assessment of Christians in general. A lot of the recent sin in my life was committed in the name of love and destroyed the most wonderful relationship I've ever had. While guilt is understandable, it's not healthy and I know this. It's something that God's going to help me work out. It's something that I and the person that I sinned against are working out. It's a process and God is with us the entire way.
Christians are better characterized as people that have hope in the face of overwhelming opposition. We trust and we love and we hope and we pray. We care about others and work to free everyone from the bonds of sin. Is that really such a bad thing?
God has wonderful things planned for my life. God has wonderful things planned for your life. Are you going to let him guide you to achieve them? I am.
Wherever your journey takes you, God bless you.
