There's a passage in one of Paul's letters (I'm being lazy and not looking up the passage) that talks about a certain thorn in his side.
It is a sin that he struggles with constantly. He never says what it is...it could be anything. All we know is its a sin.
He says that as much as he wishes this thorn to be gone, he is grateful for it...WHY? Why is he grateful for SIN??? Because through his weakness, God's strength is displayed.
Now, I'm not saying go out and sin and let God be glorified =p
I'm just saying that everyone struggles with something. For me, it was sexual morality I struggled with. No matter how much I tried, I always fell down. It was always painful and I've paid the consequences of it. But I have to say - I never really did anything wrong (not bad enough to really feel consequences from God) until the first time I did something sexual. And through the process of breaking down in confession and asking for forgiveness and going through that healing, I never really understood what Grace was.
And I think that for a lot of cradle-christians (christians from birth), they have a very limited idea of Grace until they mess up like that. And I understand what Paul meant.
1 comment:
this took a lot of courage.
it's something much more prevalent than most like to think.
and yes, we rarely know the grace of God until we've had the opportunity to experience it in dark places.
i think another thing that stuff like this does for us is make us much more compassionate and empathetic and less judgemental.
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my parents got married b/c they got pregnant with me. i think my mom tricked my dad, and my dad was very angry for a very long time. i think he wanted me dead. his parents hated her. my dad drank a lot and had a bad temper and was always mean to my mom. to try to pacify him, my mother made me out to be 'perfect' so as to justify my existance. it was not good for my siblings, and i have one sister who has struggled with this all her life. it also made me hate my parents. they never saw who i am, they have only seen what they have chosen to see over the years. i forgive them, but i will never trust them.
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