Grace

Grace means that all of your mistakes now serve a purpose instead of serving shame.

I really love that.  Like, I love that more than words can explain.  I have never been a very emotional person, but I can say that thinking about that moves me almost to the point of tears.  Why?  Well, one, I am saddened.  I have done things in my life that I am not proud of.  Not only did I do something that I am not proud of, but I went against things that my God would not approve of.  Now my God, is the most gracious God.  He forgives me fully for what I have done and does not hold it over my head.  Instead, he gives me the opportunity to use my faults for a purpose.

That's not to say that I don't feel ashamed for what I have done.  Well, I do and I don't.  I feel saddened by the things of the past, but I know that God has used them.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  That saying is true.  God gives silver linings.  But only to the people who chose to see them.  Sometimes, we don't see them.  Sometimes the lining isn't as bright as we would like for it to be.  Sometimes we don't realize it until many years later. But it is there.

Church isn't a museum for good people.  It's a hospital for the broken.  I am for sure broken.  It's why I belong in church.

The smallest good deed is worth more than the largest intentions.