Tag: Sin

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There is Purpose in the Scars

Have you ever dropped a glass and it shatter?  After it shatters, does it serve a purpose anymore?  No, not really.  It’s pretty much ruined.  My next step after it drops on the ground is sweeping up the mess and throwing it away.

When we sinned in Eden and ate from the fruit (and every time we sinned after that), we were like that glass hitting the floor – broken and shattered.  Our ability to serve the purpose we were put on this earth to do became questionable.  We could have easily been swept up and thrown out.  But God didn’t do that.  He decided that, even though we were broken, we were worth keeping around.

In fact, He sent His only Son to earth so that we might be saved and made whole again (John 3:16).  It would be the equivalent of us trying to glue the 1,000 tiny pieces of the glass that shattered on the floor.  That is a special kind of Love!

The rub is, though, no matter what we do, we would always see the glue marks on the glass we are trying to glue together.  Our glue marks are our scars.  These scars serve a purpose.  If we were made whole again, without those scars, how would we be able to be a walking testimony for our Lord?  It would be hard to show people where we once were if there was no evidence. Even Christ kept His scars so that others would understand what He endured.  (John 20:27)

Luke 14:27 declares that we must take up our Cross and follow Christ in order to be His disciple.  Part of that Cross is our bearing those scars.  It is turning from those ways and helping those who are walking in the valleys you once were walking in.  Part of the reason we need to remain marked up until we reach Heaven is because those scars share what our God can do.  It is for His glory.

Even though scars indicate that we have sinned, it also means that we have been put back together.  It means that what once were wounds are now healed.  Thus we are a walking testimony of the Grace of God.  Next time the enemy tries to shame you for a scar, for something God has forgiven you from, remind him that these scars are there to glorify God and show how great He is!  Have faith that God knows what he is doing.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬

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The cure for inadequacy

I hate being wrong.  Not saying that I am never wrong…I am wrong all the time.  I hate feeling like I am not enough. We are human and once sin entered our world, there was an inevitablness to our being wrong…a lot.  I hate it, our sinful nature.  I so desperately want to do right and still, I continue to do wrong.  Thus, I feel so inadequate and unworthy.

Paul wrote almost half the New Testament.  He was one of the greatest evangelists and prophets in the Bible.  Yet, he wrote this scripture:

“So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” (‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭14-17‬ NLT)

He struggled with the same internal turmoil I do.  Paul also was a man God respected and used in mighty ways.  Acts 19 describes how God gave Paul so much power that an apron or handkerchief that had brushed Paul’s skin were used to then bring to the sick & they were healed.  God gave Paul a great anointing and great authority. And yet he penned the scripture above.

I have to ask myself…am I inadequate and unworthy if Paul struggled with the same things I did?  The answer is a definitive yes.  On my own, trying to make it by my self, I will fail every time.  That is why I (as did Paul) need God.  I need His grace and mercy.  I need Him to live in my heart and to fill me up with Him daily.  I need to (1) pray daily, (2) read my Bible daily, (3) attend a weekly worship service at a local church and (4) try to live righteously the best I can.  In doing these things, through my communion with God, I will make it.

I encourage you, if you at all identified with my feelings expressed above, please spend time with God.  Acknowledge that He is the only way and the only truth.  Pray to Him that He reveal those dark recesses of your heart that hold you back.  Learn the Bible and let it feed your soul.  Join a local church where you can connect with people who struggle with the same things you do.  This will put you on the right track.

Prayer: King Jesus, without you, I am inadequate.  I need you to come inside of me and clean the deep-rooted things that fill my heart.  Help me stay on the road to righteousness.  I understand that it will be a daily struggle, but I am willing to make that effort.  Thank you for loving me.  I love you deeply.  In your name, amen.

Be blessed everyone!