Abundantly Pardoned

“How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings.” (Psalm 36:7 NIV) I know a lady who had a really bad childhood in which her mother favored her sister over her; in which her father stayed drunk, and her mother made her go with him and take care of him when he got drunk (she, as a child, would have to put the front driver’s seat of the car down and sit on it so that she could reach the gas pedal and brakes as she drove him back home); in which her mother would strike her whenever she became angry with her; in which her sister would mistreat her. It was a dysfunctional family that, over the years, found peace and Christ—but this woman has never found peace. She has lived a life of nonstop competition with everyone she knows or has ever known (including her sister) all because she has always felt the need to compete for attention and love. She has always told lies because of a deep-felt need to appear better in the eyes of all people. She has never been able to accept the fact that Christ loves her, that she is special and treasured in His eyes. She has never accepted the fact that she doesn’t have to compete for the love and attention of Christ or His people. She has never accepted the fact that she doesn’t have to lie in order to make herself look good. She lives a life of jealousy and envy. She lives a life of judging others, because, as a child, she was judged by her mother and made to feel worthless. Worthless. Our Lord God Almighty doesn’t think we’re worthless. He created someone special, someone from and for His heart. That someone is her, and that someone is you. No matter what has happened in your past, please know that the Lord God Almighty loves you. He wants you to leave behind that childhood in which you were ignored or mistreated. He wants you to live your life as the beloved child of God that you are. When you become a Christian, you are adopted into the family of God. You are loved! You are God’s treasured possession! Leave behind the pain, the tears, the sorrow that has warped your heart and soul. Allow God to re-shape you, re-create you into a brand new person, the person you were meant to be. Leave behind the past and wrap yourself in God’s love!