Your past doesn’t negate your inheritance with Christ.Your shame doesn’t diminish your potential. Your regret doesn’t discredit your sonship/daughtership. It doesn’t ostrisize or leave you outcasted in the Kingdom; although it may feel like it at times. So let me say it again, your past does not disqualify your future with Jesus or the calling He has placed on your life.
This seems like such a simple concept, yet, it can be one of the hardest truths to grasp in our lives. If you’re struggling to fully accept that statement, your immediate reaction may have been to argue, “But you don’t know what I did.” You’re right, I don’t and that’s okay. I don’t have to know the details but just know that Jesus does. He knows those deepest places we keep under lock and key. He knows our hurts, our injustices and humiliations. Even this thought of being fully known can seem so daunting and leave us feeling incredibly vulnerable, but with the Lord, it’s actually so liberating because God isn’t offended by our humanity.
So why do we wrestle with this truth so much?
There can be a certain standard of performance being demanded of us, placed there by others or even ourselves, that we are to be perfect before Christ could ever use us for His Kingdom. This kind of pressure and thinking actually leave us shackled by a fear that we will never be enough.That we are too damaged. Too flawed. Too broken. Too insecure. Too ____ for God to use us.
We so often overlook the humanity of the spiritual leaders written about in the Bible. We tend to read their stories through rose coloured glasses and miss their struggles entirely. They weren’t always known as great and faithful people. The disciple Peter denied ever knowing Jesus several times. When he was confronted, He hid and wept in shame. Yet, Jesus still called him the Rock of which the church was built on. (Matt. 26:29-72; 16:18) King David in the Old Testament was an adulter and murderer, but he was known as the Man after God’s own heart. (2 Samuel 11:1-1-26; 13:14). Rahab was known as a local prostitute but God used her to save Joshua and his men. (Joshua 2:1-24) These are just a few examples of people who despite their failures, God still called and used them for His glory. Their past mistakes and shortcomings never disqualified them from the calling placed on their lives.
Despite our past, despite our shame, despite our deepest regret, despite how heavy of a burden we bear, God still has a calling and purpose for your life. We are still sons and daughters of the most high King. We are still chosen and accepted, not because of anything we could ever do but because of the power of the cross. Our past does not define or disqualify our future with Jesus.