You aren't the something wrong

Separating your sinfulness from your worthiness

Under a beautiful Texas sky was the perfect place for me to rest and recharge last week.

I visited with friends, wrote a little on my next book, ate incredible food, and laughed a lot.

One of my favorite people in the world, Adie, was sitting with me one morning, Bibles on our lap, one with the quiet.

“Can I share something with you?” she finally broke the silence and said, looking up. She had an exam the next week and had gotten up early to study for her seminary class.

I nodded an eager yes, and she continued.

“My professor said this, and I wrote it down: ‘Our sinfulness is not a message of our worthlessness.’ I can’t stop thinking about it. Isn’t that good?”

I paused for a minute, thought about it, then wrote it down, myself.

Now I, too, can’t stop thinking about it.

Our sinfulness is not a message of our worthlessness.

We kept talking, and Adie told me something else. Our mutual friend, Vivian, said that in her culture growing up, she struggled with separating these two ideas:

I did something wrong vs. I am something wrong.

And now I can’t stop thinking about that, either.

I was thinking this morning that maybe you also struggle at times with separating your sin from your worth as a person…that sometimes when you do things wrong you can begin to feel that you are wrong, in and of yourself.

So I just wanted to speak into that, today, and remind you of what’s true.

• While we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), “all the days ordained for [you and] me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16b)

• And yes, we all do things wrong…“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)

Your sinfulness is not a message of your worthlessness.

You may do something wrong, but you are never, ever something wrong, according to God.

Just felt like someone might need to hear that, today.