Caution: Epic Failure

Have you ever had someone throw your past failures in your face? Have you ever felt like your past will never remain in the past? Do you struggle to step beyond who you were and step into who you are now?

Recently, I had a conversation with a young lady who made a series of not-so-great choices in the past. She has spent several years trying to move beyond the after-effects of the broken life that was a result of alcohol & drug use and in the end, time in prison. What an incredible joy to hear her tell of her successes in regaining her life. Her hard work shows. She has built a solid career, has a beautiful child and a new romance.  

She's put in a lot of effort to overcome her past and is the kind of person others can look up to. I admire her resolve to live her life well. Yet, the people closest to her see her through a different lens. Relatives have closed their doors and hearts to her and still she is regularly reminded by the ones who are supposed to love unconditionally that she "failed". In their eyes, she will always be the person she used to be.

I 'm so glad that God doesn't operate like most people. Scripture tells us in John 1:9, " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." That's excellent news, but it gets even better! In Hebrews 10:17 he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Not only is God faithful to forgive us, but once we're forgiven, he remembers our sins no more! Oh how I wish humans could function like this. How beautiful to know that once we are forgiven, we aren't reminded by our Savior again and again of how we screwed up. It doesn't matter what the sin was, once it's forgiven is eliminated, wiped out, erased, GONE!

Nobody likes to be reminded of their failures. When we fail it's hard to believe we have any hope of success. At our lowest moments, we need someone to believe we can be better, not someone to reinforce that we fell short. Thankfully, we serve a loving God who loves us enough not to give up on us even at our lowest moment. Your failure(s) won't prevent God from finishing what He started in you. You can have confidence in God's words in Philippians 1:6:"he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

God won't quit on you. God's not done with you. You're not a failure. 

You. Are. His.