Have you ever allowed a sin to define you? It sticks to your skin like a scarlet letter and you feel like no matter where you go, who you talk to, and what you do, that sin is blinking on and off like a neon sign. You wonder, “How can God love me when I’ve done _________?” “How can I call myself Christian when I’ve been so ‘unchristian?’”
There is not a single person in the world who has not felt this way. Each of us have been hounded by regrets about things we wish we hadn’t done. Things we’re so embarrassed that other people know about. Moments that make us smack ourselves in the forehead when we relive them in our minds.
I have those regrets too. I’ve done things in my life that I’m not too proud of and that have hurt others. I went against my parents’ teaching and partied it up with friends. I did things purely out of the need for money, worldly pleasures, popularity, and career advancement that put me to shame. I’ve said things to my spouse and kids that were far from the picture of a loving, Christian husband and father.
In short, I’ve sinned. We all have.
The one saving grace is that I know each of these sins, each of these terrible acts, and each of these embarrassing moments do not define me. Christ does. When I accepted Jesus into my heart, that was the only defining moment that mattered. Everything else I’ve done does not label me because the moment I accepted Jesus, I became a new creation in him.
You are not your sin. You are not your guilt. You are not your bad moods or your self-contempt. You are not broken or bruised beyond repair. There is always a choice to start over. To rededicate yourself to Christ or, if you haven’t already, give your life over to Christ and accept Him into your heart today.
Because in Christ your past is forgotten, your sins forgiven, and you are redeemed and that really is all that matters.
