Scripture
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
~ 1 Corinthians 15:9
We all have a past, but we who believe are called from out of our pasts. I have a past and have had to work hard in my relationship with God. To become the person that God wants me to be, I have God’s grace, His strength and His wisdom to guide me. I can do great things regardless of my past! Sometimes our pasts and our deliverance from those circumstances are the very things that legitimize our faith in a great God and His power to heal and deliver.
Paul was a persecutor of the church, but after he met Jesus he becomes the church’s greatest advocate and starts Christian churches all over the world. He did not let his past affect his witness to the world of what Christ had done for us all. Paul used his story to tell a world that was hurting that despite his past, Christ loved him and gave His life for a sinful man; a sinful world!
I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and I have a past, but I am not going to let my shame of my past prevent me from sharing about God’s grace and the love of Christ which has saved us all.
kathleenathome
Sixty-six books in a year 