Mistakes.

  Mistakes. They're something we all make time and time again. We make them individually, with a person, or in a group. We can never get through life without making mistakes unless we're Jesus. Then if we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts when we make those mistakes, there is the conviction, guilt, feelings of failure and disappointment in ourselves that we feel. These feelings stay with us until we somehow fix what we messed up.

  From my experience with my mistakes, it's hard to get rid of these feelings. What i mean, is that if we ask for forgiveness from the people we hurt we would hopefully be forgiven. Sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes we're stuck feeling sad and guilty because they didn't forgive us. We're stuck that way until they forgive us or realize that we did the right thing by apologizing and now it's up to them and yes we can feel sad, but don't feel guilty because we tried to resolve the situation. that's a case where those feelings could hang around.

  Then we definitely want to ask forgiveness from God. Now the thing is with that, when we ask for forgiveness from Him, we will be forgiven. That's what grace is there for. That's why Jesus died on the cross for us. So when we ask for His forgiveness, we can be assured that we are forgiven. Because the Bible tells us that "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."

  However, there is one more person we need to ask forgiveness of. Ourselves. that's the hardest one, i think, at least for me. I know I'm probably not the only one who finds it so difficult to forgive ourselves of what we've done. That's where the feelings are going to hang around. If we can't forgive ourselves, then we're going to be carrying that guilty feeling around until we do. It's hard. Because we feel like we've failed to the extent of wondering why anybody would forgive us and whether we are even worth forgiving. If we don't think we're able to be forgiven how are we going to forgive ourselves. It's hard. i know i struggle with forgiving myself when i make mistakes. I feel like i could never be forgiven and how in the world could i be forgiven. I struggle with this, but i have also begun to realize that there's so much freedom when we do forgive ourselves. Because then the guilty feeling goes away and we can look forward to the future. It's not something i do all the time, I'll be honest. It's something i struggle doing. I do know, however, that it is worth doing. If we can bring ourselves to do it.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful an just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."      
                            1 John 1:9

"It is not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place because it frees you."
                           Tyler Perry.

A "Difference" Choice

 Being different from the world is a choice. A choice we so rarely make. What is so bad about being different? Or is the issue we have, not that difference is bad, but that we are scared to be different? Being different is scary. It means being separate from the crowd, whether it be by the way we dress, live, talk, or act. It means people probably making fun of you because your different. It means putting yourself in the spotlight. Doing that is ridiculously scary.

 I can honestly say that I have always hated being in the public eye. I've always preferred to blend in and not be noticed. It is a whole lot easier for m. However, while in my Old Testament class this morning, my teacher was talking about how the Israelites never wanted to be different from those around them and that they kept trying to conform to the world. I then realized that that is exactly what everyone, including me, do. We try not to stand out, we try to "be normal". We try to do this, but this is actually opposite of what God is calling us to do. He is calling us to be different from the world. Being different by obeying His laws, listening to what He says in His Word, and being a light in a darkened world. He calls us to be a light, not another worldly man or woman. 

 I think all of this then poses the question: What do we do about it? There's no easy answer to this question. We stand out. It's hard to do, but it needs to be done. To be light to the world, we need to step out from underneath the bushel we are hiding under. So, I don't know about anybody else, but I need to step out. I need to be a light. I need to be who God wants me to be and I don't think that includes me hiding in a corner somewhere.

  "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
                Romans 12:2