How well do you remember your past mistakes?
When you see someone messing up, do you feel more right—or more righteous—as you watch their struggles?
When I see someone wrestling with sin, I try to remember my own. I am a sinner among sinners. Yes, I confess, repent, and seek forgiveness, but that doesn’t make me any better than anyone else. It just keeps me aware of my own need for grace.
At the end of the day, I love spending time with people who don’t know Jesus. My hope is always that I’m the one influencing them—not the other way around - but I want to remember who I really am.
It reminds me of when the Pharisees questioned why Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners:
"When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and ‘sinners,’ they asked his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus heard this and said to them, ‘It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.’” (Mark 2:16-17 NCV)
We all need Jesus. We all need the forgiveness He brings. And we all need to remember our own shortcomings so we can better reach those who need God’s truth. The only reason we can help others is because God first helped us.
Paul understood this. He never hid his past, and that’s what made his testimony so powerful:
"In the past, I spoke against Christ and persecuted Him and did all kinds of things to hurt Him. But God showed me mercy because I did not know what I was doing. I did not believe. But the grace of our Lord was fully given to me, and with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:13-15 NCV)
Being honest about who we really are—where we’ve been and what God has brought us through—makes all the difference. Sin is a struggle. Most people don’t like their own sin.
Almost everyone knows what sin is. And many wish they could overcome it.
That’s where we come in. You and I get to share the Good News.
LORD, help us share it humbly, always remembering how You saved us. Help us be kind, not judgmental. Help us forgive as freely as we have been forgiven.
IJNIP Amen. ❤️
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