broken cup
 As I look back over my life, I realize that I used to think my family was the standard.  My parents were both Christians, as were their parents.  We went to Church every time the doors were open.  We learned the Sunday School songs and knew the Books of the Bible.  We could recite the 23rd Psalm and the books of the Bible.  Life was innocent and carefree, or so I thought.  Then, as I grew older, I began to realize that other people’s lives were very different than mine.  Some had nicer things than I did, and others didn’t.  Some of my friends had parents who were divorced, while others lived in homes that were always peaceful and fun-loving.  Many of the families I was around went to Church just like mine, but there were thousands of people all around me that I didn’t know who never came to Church.  I also began to realize that my family had problems of its own.  We were messed up too.

No matter what your background, your origin is a place of brokenness.  The Bible says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall sort of the glory of God,“.  I always thought the standard was perfection, and even after I became a follower of Jesus, I thought God expected me to be perfect.  So I worked hard to be perfect, but you know what?   I am not perfect no matter how hard I try . . . and then I learned that I don’t have to be perfect!!!  The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8, “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 John 1:9 tells us “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, if God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, then what does He want from us?  He wants us to trust Him.  Psalm 37:3-6 “Trust in the Lord, and do good: dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and he will act.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”  It sounds so easy, doesn’t it?  But I have found that trusting God is not easy.  There are so many things that distract me from the truths of the Bible.  I forget the goodness of God.  Sometimes I believe those who teach that God is going to punish us for every little thing we do wrong.  I forget that Jesus has taken my sin away, and I live as though I am still responsible to make myself right before God.  Other times instead of trusting God, I have told God what He should do for me.  Then, when He doesn’t do what I ask, I get upset with God as though He has let me down.  That’s why the Bible is so important!  We need to be reading it every day in order to keep ourselves from believing a lie.  God meets in the Scriptures and through the power of the Holy Spirit, He fixes our brokenness.  Psalm 119:51 “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life.” Our minds are renewed as we read and think about God’s Word.

Praise the Lord for His grace to us!  Even though our origins are broken, God doesn’t leave us there!  He gives us a new beginning through Jesus.  Let’s not forget the great gift God has given us.  Let’s live our lives trusting Him and praising Him for loving us perfectly!

Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good

for His steadfast love endures forever!

-Psalm 118:29