If the church was full of perfect people there would be no need for church. The fact is that even as believers we make mistakes. We fail God more often than we would like to and so many times we hang our head in shame and condemnation.
As disciples of Christ we seek to live holy and righteous before Him, desiring to please Him with our lives. The fact of the matter is, however, that even as disciples we mess up. Looking at the failures of those closest to Christ, this notion is not far fetched.
Peter denied Christ three times…
Thomas doubted…
James and John wanted to be the greatest (pride)…
At Jesus’ betrayal all disciples forsook Him…
Sounds like a group of men who needed grace! Child of God, we have not obtained perfection yet. We are still in need of God’s grace. Grace means God’s unmerited favor. You can do nothing to earn it. It is free! If we could have earned it there would have been no need for Christ to die on the Cross. We would still be shedding the blood of goats. Now, God extends grace to those who sin.
Do not misunderstand me, this is not cheap grace. This is grace that cost our Savior His life. We are not to live the way we want and indulge in sin and expect God’s grace to forgive us. We must strive to live right. We must flee temptation. We must desire to be holy, but when we mess up God is there to forgive.
The key to forgiveness is repentance. James said, "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." Our avenue to grace is by coming to Him in humility and admitting failure. "Lord, I am sorry for blowing my top today. Help me not to do it again." We must come to God in an attitude of repentance and willingness to change.
Jesus’ disciples were a group of men who humbled themselves after their failures. Peter didn’t deny Christ again. James and John humbled themselves. Thomas believed. All the disciples but one died a martyr’s death, they never forsook Christ again. The moral of the story here is that even though they failed they didn’t continue to live in their sin. In our lives we should accept God’s grace and move on. Leaving those things which are behind, I press on!
There will always be struggles with temptations in our lives. We will fall again. But when we do, we can come to Christ and He will forgive us. I John 2:1, "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous." I hold on to this verse because it shows me that Christ is our Advocate. I desire to live a holy life, but when I fail I can count on the grace of God to cover the multitude of sins.
We have hope today in the fact that we do not have to live in shame and condemnation over failures. Christ died for our sins. Don’t let the devil tell you to give up. Accept the grace of God and overcome.
Life of a Pastor Blog 
If I listen to what you have to say about me, I have blown it in more ways than one. But it amazes me how simple it is to blow it. As I read for years there were a lot of people in the Bible that we would have had nothing to do with because they were not “nice people”. But I have learned
through the years that they are the ones that sometime need
us the most. Or should I say we need the most. Things do not always work the way we want them to. But if someone does not fit our way of looking or living, we seem to think they are below our standards. Sometimes we need to be with people who are not perfect, or living the way we think they should live. We may be the only chiristins they know. We may not like what they do or say but we may
make the differance down the line that started a change.
Sorry for taking up so much space. I just try to remember, thats why Christ came.
There are days when the Lord blesses, disciplines and rebukes us for our good. May His presents be with you today.