You Are More

This weekend, I saw God work in my life in a new way.  I was blessed with the chance to share my testimony at a teen girl sleepover.  I didn't talk about when I found God on this particular night; rather, I talked about the relationship choices I had made throughout my life.  I shared my story with perfect strangers in the hopes that my experiences could inspire the teen girls at the event.  I felt God speaking through me and I know that He used my story to impact lives. 

I can only give thanks to God for allowing me to take down my walls and become both brave enough and vulnerable enough to share myself with others.  As I shared my successful decisions as well as my epic mistakes, I reminded these girls (and myself) that God does not dwell on our pasts.  He simply wants our hearts right now. 

Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we can be washed completely clean.  Even though we sin every day and make mistake after mistake, God still loves us more than we can even know.  Can you believe that? 

I try to comprehend that fact daily.  It is so hard to wrap my head around it.  He loves me no matter what.  It is not by my own works that I am saved (thank goodness!) . . . it is only through His sacrifice that I am worth anything! 
This song reminds us of God's undeserved grace!  Take the time to thank Him for the fact that He does not give us what we deserve, but that He died for us so we could live forever with Him.  If our life worth was determined by our own actions, we would be counted as worthless.  But with Jesus' ultimate act of love, we can live and know that with God, our lives are worth more. 

You Are More by Tenth Avenue North   There's a girl in the corner with tear stains on her eyes from the places she's wandered and the shame she can't hide.  She says, "How did I get here?  I'm not who I once was.  And I'm crippled by the fear that I've fallen too far to love."  But don't you know who you are?  What has been done for you?  And don't you know who you are?  You are more than the choices that you've made.  You are more than the sum of your past mistakes.  You are more than the problems you create.  You've been remade.  Well, she tries to believe it, that she's been given new life.  But she can't shake the feeling that it's not true tonight.  She knows all the answers and she's rehearsed all the lines.  So she'll try to do better, but then she's too weak to try.  'Cause this is not about what you've done, but what's been done for you.  This is not about where you've been, but where your brokenness brings you to.  This is not about what you feel, but what He felt to forgive you and what He felt to make you new.