Friends, in Christ, we are not defined by our worst moments. 

I am such a weak hypocrite most days. And yet, I am Ross … beloved Son of God, justified brother of Christ, a messenger of the gospel of the Kingdom. It is almost too much to contemplate. 

I can get stuck in a rut of shame and self-loathing and then I can convince myself that there is something pious and rewarding about that sort of self-regard (or lack thereof) as if God is pleased when I hate myself and berate myself continually for the things I have done or failed to do. This is beyond the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but is rather more akin to the accusatory cries of God’s enemy, who we know never grows hoarse from hurling those accusations day and night.

Before we are prone to sin we first have to forget who we are in Christ! When we are able to remember that we are holy, and cherished, and beloved by God, and that we have been adopted into His family as sons and daughters who get to serve as priests of His great Kingdom, well then, sin seems … beneath us, unfitting for us to trifle with, unworthy of our attention and distraction.