Prodigal Son
When I was younger I didn’t see myself as broken as the prodigal son. Sure, I had sinned, but I didn’t feel as though my sins were quite “as bad”. After all, I went to church and loved Jesus. How bad could I be?
Turns out: bad.
Despite the Bible being clear that all sin is equal in God’s eyes, we constantly are ranking our own sin and struggles as lesser or greater. There is an understandable component that in our world the effects of different sins cause different consequences, but the reality is that the minute you sin, you are no longer holy, and, therefore, no longer able to be in relationship with God.
This means that in spite of our best attempts to minimize our sins, we are always worse than we acknowledge.
Hear me here: this is not a push towards shame, this is a challenge towards humility. I think we often fail to be overwhelmed by the gift of the cross because we are so used to justifying and minimizing our own sins that we don’t see the need for forgiveness.
You are far more broken than you could ever realize. God’s grace is more powerful than you could ever recognize.
In my own story, it took me bottoming out in some areas for me to finally acknowledge a taste of how sinful I am. Even now I know that I fail to fully grasp just how desperately I need God’s grace. I think as Christians it is a lifelong process of learning more and more just how much God has truly done for us by saving us.
Shame keeps us trapped from being able to glorify God to the fullest. When we fall into shame, we again minimize God’s power, because we think our wickedness is so great that His forgiveness cannot possibly fully redeem and restore us.
It does.
You can acknowledge the weight of your sin and brokenness because only by acknowledging that can we equally proclaim the power of God.
His grace is not fragile.
His grace does not have a capacity.
His grace can meet the worst things you have done.
If you’re reading the prodigal son story and think you aren’t that bad, you are. That is where glorifying God can really begin to explode. That is where redemption can fully begin to be proclaimed. We are called to boast in our weakness. Don’t shut up about how God has redeemed you.
