At first thought, I would love to tell you I am a perfect person. A person that always thinks good thoughts and always does the right thing. A person who has no enemies, commits no sins and gets it right, no matter the situation or circumstance. At first thought, I think this is what I would love to be able to tell you, but then after I think about it for a few minutes, I realize that would not be me at all.

While it is very true that I am not my mistakes, sins and failures, the reality is, they are a part of me, the part of me that is human. They are the part of my human experience, which is teaching me that I am a spiritual being getting to have a human experience. And while I am not proud of these things, the Spirit has taught me that God has used and is using all of these things to help shape me into who and what He created me to be. It is all part of His process!

The world we live in is a beautiful, mystical and amazing place, but it also a hard, ugly and mean place at the same time. It is in this place that there is a continual battle that wages, a battle we get caught up in and often distracted by.

Oh, we like to pretend that it doesn’t exist and we tend to ignore the obvious, but that does not change the reality that all of us are sinners that miss the mark, and we really do need to own that. A big part of accepting what God has done for us through Jesus is admitting the truth that we are sinners who miss the mark and don’t measure up.

“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you. please.” -Galatians 5:17

Part of our saying that we BELIEVE is acknowledging our sinfulness, accepting it’s consequences and admitting that in our on limited human strength and power, we can do nothing to save ourselves and live the life we were created for. We don’t need to dwell on this part of our life and living, but we do need to be honest and real about it, because that is a vital part of our being able to allow Spirit to do His work in and through us.

Yes, we have messed up and we will mess up, but God loves us and has a plan to use it all for His glory and our blessing as we trust in Him. So own your stuff, admit and learn from your sins, mistakes and failures. Learn to yield to the SPIRIT and you will overcome the desires of the flesh that attempt to pull you off track and out of the will of God’s blessing.

It’s not easy, but it is possible and it’s the relationship you were created for…