Day 1980 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Isaiah 53:6 NIV

Saw this amazing little gem last night and thought it would make for another pretty uplifting post. I've been on this little kick of sharing some amazing truths about who God says we are and what He thinks about us. This one right here is definitely up there with one of the most amazing gifts possible. And it's one that every single one of us are given!

We've all messed up. A lot! We've all gotten far more things wrong than we've ever gotten right. It's just a simple fact that nobody can argue or avoid. We can't get out of the truth that we've all sinned and fallen short of Christ's example. But that's only one chapter in the story of our lives. And it's not the final one! Unfortunately, our past mistakes are so often used to keep us down and convince us that we're something that we're not.

As I've been sharing the past couple of posts, who cares what this world thinks about us? Who cares if some other person says we're too far gone or not worthy of forgiveness? Who cares if we're called names or shoved aside? The world only does that because it wants to try and define our worth in it's own terms. It doesn't have the right to do that, but if we fall for those lies, then sadly it has the power to beat us down.

The truth of the Gospel will always be worth more than every lie this world can create. The fact that Christ took our mistakes, our sins upon Himself so that we could start over and live better is something that this world can never take away from us. Yeah, we've all been lost and have done some pretty screwed up things. Again, that just doesn't tell the whole story. It never will.

The story is one of salvation and forgiveness. It's a story of unconditional love and mercy without measure. It's about how the One who should have found us guilty and punished us according to our deeds chose not to. It's about how our Father chose to look past our stupid choices and give us all the chance to try again. This world just can't compete with that!

It doesn't matter how long we've walked in the wrong direction. It doesn't matter how many bad choices we've made. What matters is that God chooses to love us anyway. So our mistakes don't define us, they simply help us figure out who we're not made to be and find our way to the better life that He's written for us to live.

So again, don't let this world ever convince you of something that isn't true. You are loved, forgiven, free, and have this amazing opportunity to start over with a clean slate. It's just one of those things that instantly makes you feel incredible whenever you think about it. A gift that we don't deserve yet are given freely by the God who chooses to love us no matter what. That's the story my friends! That's your story!