I have a confession to make that just might shock you. I am not perfect. I know…it’s probably hard to believe…but the person writing this has lots of faults and failures.
OK…maybe this bit of news isn’t a surprise to you, especially if you know me. I have accepted the fact that there isn’t anyone on this earth who thinks I’m flawless, because they know I am human and there just isn’t any way I could ever achieve perfection. And I hate to be the one to break the news to you…but you aren’t perfect either. You may not have as many faults as I have…but just like it is for me…perfection is unattainable.
Now that we have cleared the air and admitted our downfalls, I have two questions for us to ponder. Why do so many adults think they have to be perfect…having all their ducks in a row…for God to care about them? Why do many believe they have to get their life in order before He will shower them with His love? They couldn’t be more wrong.
Do you know that God loves you because you are you? Re-read that sentence if you need to. There is nothing you can do to earn His love. There is nothing in your life that you must clean up before He will care about you. He created you and loves you more than you can imagine and there is nothing in your past or your present or even your future that will stop Him from loving you. He loves you because you are you.
We see His love for a couple of “screw-ups” at the beginning of the Bible. Have you ever heard of Adam and Eve? I’m sure you know that in Genesis 3, we read that Adam and Eve messed up BIG time. They had it all…everything anyone would ever want. Life was perfect in the Garden of Eden and beyond anything we can imagine. But because they were human…they wanted more and so when the snake (Satan) tempted them to sin…it didn’t take them long to go against what they had been told. Immediately they knew they had done wrong. Instantaneously, they felt shame and hid when God came because they were naked.
Was God happy? Absolutely not. He immediately told them what the consequences would be because of their sinful actions. They, and everyone who entered the world after them, would pay a price for their choices.
Now if I had been God, I probably would have left them stew in their mess for quite a while. They had been given paradise…but they chose their own selfish desires instead. More than likely, I would have let them feel shame for a long time for their sin and for their nakedness. I would have probably walked out of the garden, slamming the gate behind me, so they would know just how ticked off I was (see, I told you I’m not perfect!).
But do you know what God did instead? Get ready for this…verse 21 in Chapter 3 tells us, “And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.”
Are you serious? Remember, they messed up BIG time and changed the course of history. But God still loved them so much He made them clothes so they would not feel shame in their nakedness. Just blows my mind.
If God still loved Adam and Eve after what they had done, don’t you think He can still love you and me, regardless of what we’ve done? If we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we are His children and He can hardly wait to spend eternity with us.
If you haven’t accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, you need to know that He loves you so much that He sent His Son to die just for you. I can’t imagine that kind of love. He did it so you can be cleansed from your sins and spend eternity in His presence.
Did you know that you were created in His image? You were created to look like Him…the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He wants nothing more than for you to come to Him, just the way you are, and allow Him to mold you and shape you to reflect Him.
This is a new year and a great time for a new beginning. What better way to begin 2026 than to remember that the Almighty God, the creator of the universe, loves YOU because YOU are YOU. You don’t have to be perfect or have everything in your life cleaned up. He loves you right where you are…but has such high hopes for the days ahead.
By the way, if you haven’t accepted Christ into your heart, why not start this new year by doing just that. Remember, you can’t earn your way to heaven…or just be a good enough person…you need to come to Him and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you from your sins. I recently read the following prayer of salvation in “Living Beyond the Limits” and it would be a great one for you to repeat:
“Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sin. Forgive me. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, died on Calvary’s cross for my sins and that You raised Him from the grave. I want to invite Christ into my heart and live for Him as my Lord and Savior from this day forward, in Jesus name. Amen.”
If you just prayed this prayer, I would love for you to let me know. Feel free to e-mail me at luannfulton@gmail.com any time. I want to be praying for you as you begin your new journey with your Savior!
“No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him
who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:37-39
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