I am an awful person

There are many people that believe they are too much of an awful person for God to even love them.  Things have been done that just can't be reversed and there is too much regret to try!  Many people say the church would burn down if they merely crossed the threshold because of the things they have done.

This is a pretty common belief that many of us had or still have.  We all do terrible things and that is the simple nature of being human.  It could have been a comment we made to someone knowing we would crush his or her feelings.  Maybe you were drunk and did something you regret.  It may even be something so unimaginable to me that you know God could never, ever forgive you.

Before I talk about anything else let me tell you about two people from the Bible.  One is Moses who I am sure you heard about before and the other is Saul who may be a new name.  We all know Moses parted the Red Sea, but why?  Moses is credited for leading an entire nation out of slavery.  The Egyptian Pharaoh of the time had enslaved the entire nation of Israel.  God chose Moses to lead his people from the tyranny and go to the Promised Land.

Moses did just that and during his escape from Egypt the Jewish people were being chased by Pharaoh’s military.  Moses parted the Red Sea and led the people through it and Pharaoh’s men were swallowed as the Sea returned.  Moses then was the top-dawg of over 100,000 people. 

Does it amaze you that God gave this type of power to a murderer?  Moses had committed murder!  He was not perfect, in fact, only one man in the Bible was.  Moses being a murderer sounds horrible, but he does not even hold a candle to this next guy.

Meet Saul, a Jewish Pharisee who was not a huge fan of Christianity.  Pharisees thought that they were better than everyone else and because of their commitment to God they had a right to tell everyone else how to live.  Saul was the front man for a group of Christian persecutors determined to end Christianity or at that time “the Way.”

Saul went door to door dragging Christians from their homes to have them punished for their beliefs.  He had people stoned and put into prison for believing Jesus was the Messiah!   All until one day, God gave him a wake-up call.  He softened his heart enough for him to let Christ in and was born-again in the Holy Spirit.

Saul changed his name to Paul because of his treacherous past and then went on to proclaim his love for Christ and plant churches throughout the land.  Paul is the author to most of the New Testament and is arguably the 2nd most influential Christian, next to Christ.  That is like Osama Bin Laden (who persecutes Christians because of his beliefs) becoming saved and proclaiming the word!

Just think, many of the churches and the philosophy guiding them is a result of Paul’s teachings.  That is an unbelievable amount of responsibility and trust granted from God to a truly awful person!  In fact, if you look at just about all of the influential characters in the Bible they have sinful pasts.

There is nothing you have done or desire to do that is too awful to God.  God has seen worse!  There is forgiveness and a way to remove those burdens of regret, you just need to ask.  Ask God for forgiveness and accept Jesus into your heart by acknowledging the sacrifice He made for us.  There is a learning curve and most likely you will take a step backwards every now and then.  Remember that God took Moses and Saul and did extraordinary things with them and they were “awful” people too.

Joe is a freelance writer living in Charleston, SC.  Be sure to subscribe to him and get updates of new articles.  Also, feel free to follow him on  Twitter at www.twitter.com/joeylaw or read more articles at www.inspiretomorrow.com/writer.