This year, I committed myself to building a stronger relationship with God, and to remain consistent as I work on my relationship with Him. I've always had the desire to build a relationship with God but what used to stop me from staying consistent in working on our relationship, was the guilt and the shame I would feel every time I sinned.
I used to feel unworthy of a relationship with God because I would make the commitment and promise to Him to live a righteous life and every time I committed a sin, I felt like I was letting Him down. I would feel so bad that I would stop talking to Him, stop listening to worship music or sermons, not want to hear anything God related all because of the shame and guilt I felt about not keeping his commandments.
This is the verse that changed everything for me: "There is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins." Ecclesiastes 7:20
It came at the perfect time for me because it reminded me that NO ONE was sinless and that the goal isn't to be a perfect Christian because that doesn't exist. As human beings, we are all innately sinners and He knows that and doesn't hold that against us.
Fast forward to now, I acknowledge myself as a sinner and a work in progress in Christ. I am not proud to be a sinner but I refuse to allow that to keep me away from God.
I say all of this to say, don't allow the shame and guilt from your sins to keep you away from God. He is not like us human beings who hold grudges and wait to be apologized to, in order to forgive. When Jesus was on the cross he looked up to heaven and said "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
He forgave us before we were ever sorry for what we did. He forgave us before we apologized. Keep this in mind anytime you feel too ashamed or guilty to return to God. He has forgiven you long before you came back to Him. He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you!
If you haven't talked to God in a while and have built a distance with Him because of your guilt from your sins, I encourage you today to talk to Him to bridge that gap. All you have to do is come to Him just as you are. You don't have to change anything about yourself first, just go to Him and talk. That's the first step in getting closer to Him once again.
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