“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart”
2 Corinthians 3: 2-3, NKJV
Do you question your purpose?
We have parts of ourselves that we wish didn’t exist. It could be a perceived flaw in our character or mistakes we’ve made in the past.
Those mistakes are often the ones we don’t tell anyone about.
We want to silence the regret to make it easier to move forward. Forget about it until it goes away. Sometimes you don’t even realize how much your past affected your choices because it’s buried so deep in your heart. It just burns inside of you until the smoke wakes you up one day and clouds your mind with grief.
Don’t let your regret bind you up any longer.
Trying to start over with a clean slate without facing it doesn’t remove the hurt. Accountability for what you have done helps you confess it to God. You can ask Jesus to forgive you. He’ll set you free.
Jesus is the rock in which you can stand, and no longer be enslaved by guilt. Not one person on this Earth is perfect and every one of us has made sinful mistakes.
Your purpose is not your pain
Your purpose is your heart, rebuilt from that pain through Jesus Christ.
You are the walking testimony of the work in your heart. If your heart is filled with hate or sorrow, you can’t share the goodness that is inside of you. Once you accept Jesus into your life as your personal Savior the Holy Spirit fills you with the fruits of His Spirit. You no longer have to be bonded to your sin because He has already removed it from you.
Letting go of the guilt that binds you is a choice you have.
But it’s not what saves you. Jesus has already paid the price for you. It’s not about you being worthy to accept His gift, it’s about Him being worthy to sacrifice. Take the focus off your sin and focus it on His grace. If you don’t know how to do that start by talking to Him. Ask Him to search your heart and remove the thorns within it.
You are the witness to what God is doing in your life.
You are the tablet He uses to share His love. That time when you were kind to someone for no other reason but because it was “the right thing to do” is a page in that book. The time you showed mercy to someone who’s hurt you or cried with someone who’s needed encouragement is your heart sharing that love with others.
What’s important is moving forward from the mistakes. Once you believe in Jesus as the Son of God you are a new creation.
You can embrace God’s purpose for you once your surrender
That doesn’t mean that you must forget about your past, it just means you don’t let it dictate your future. Many people around you may not see the change inside you or have an opinion about it. Even if that happens that doesn’t mean you aren’t different. Change in any person starts from the inside, with your heart, mind, and your spirit.
Jesus said “For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter in law against her mother in law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household” -Matthew 10: 35-36, NKJV
You believe but maybe those closest to you don’t. You know that He is the Son of God who chose to die and rise again so you could have eternal life through Him. You are a new creation, but your family remembers what you’ve done. They will be more skeptical than any new person you meet because they witnessed your sins and mistakes. They knew you as the person you once were. Until their heart is filled with the love and acceptance that Christ brings, they won’t be able to accept the change as a true transformation. This brings division into your household.
This is why it’s so important to be humble and kind.
You can impact those very people that question you by witnessing every single day in your life simply being who Christ called you to be. Sharing the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, long-suffering, goodness, and self-control.
You are not going to change their heart, only God/Christ can do that. You are the branch; He is the vine that provides you the nourishment you need to share the fruit.
Remember you are not the rule, you’re the exception.
There will be many people you encounter in your life that won’t understand nor want to be a part of the love you have inside for God and Jesus. You can’t change their heart, but you can exhibit the change on your own. You are the vessel for the living word of God inside you. Your heart is His tablet. Your life is His legacy.