Pastor’s Pen 21st November

Elders Etchings:

Some days I really struggle to do life well.  I get irritated by people.  It might be my spouse, boss, children or a friend I thought wouldn’t knock me back in the way they just did.  Sometimes I react because I’ve been hurt.  You know the saying “hurt people hurt” … well that can be me at times if I’m truly honest.  I might do it passively and withhold emotional connection or I might do it aggressively and get into an argument.  Afterwards I feel a failure and a poor example of a Christian.  I’m sure you know what I’m talking about and have experienced similar feelings to this as well.

Most of my life when I read 2 Corinthians 5:17 “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”  I was only able to see my failures.  Somewhere, along the journey of life, I had started to believe and hold onto the lie that if I was truly saved I also must be “perfect”; so I worked really hard at trying to present myself “perfectly” before God.  We all know that isn’t possible.

It’s not about perfection – it’s about progress!

It is not about me doing, doing, doing.  It’s about me accepting the beautiful gift of Christ’s salvation and resting in that gift and trusting the Creator to create within me that which is pleasing to Him.  My flesh and heart often feel like they’re failing, but He is the strength of my heart and the lifter of my soul forever.  I am truly flawed, yes, but because of Jesus Christ, I am also being made new.  What a beautiful hope to hold onto.