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We are all flawed. We fall to temptation, have struggles, insecurities, weaknesses and brokenness within.
We make mistakes. We make wrong choices. We sin. We sometimes say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, or choose our own way instead of God’s way.
We can look at our failures and wonder, “Can God really use me?”
The answer is yes. He can use you no matter what. God’s specialty is making diamonds out of coal. Our dark and damaged areas can be made beautiful through the One who makes all things new.
God has always used imperfect people to accomplish His perfect purposes. He does not wait for us to become perfect before He begins working in our lives. He meets us where we are, saves us through Christ, changes us through His Spirit, and continues to work in us throughout our lives.
We are flawed, but we are still usable in the hands of God.
2 Corinthians 12:10
Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
Psalms 145:14
The LORD supports all who fall and lifts up all who are bent over.
Revelation 21:5
And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.”
Humanity
God created humanity for life with Him.
From the beginning, God wanted a relationship with His creation. He created us in His image. He made us to know Him, love Him, walk with Him, and enjoy His presence.
But sin entered the world and broke what God had created. Adam and Eve chose their own way instead of trusting God. Sin brought separation, pain, death, and brokenness to humanity.
But God did not abandon us.
He made a way for us to be redeemed through Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:27
God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
Romans 5:12
So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned.
Our Flawed Condition
Our problem is sin. Our nature rebels against God. We may want to do good but find ourselves doing the things we don’t want to do. Everyone struggles with it. We try to be good. We try harder. We may promise ourselves that we will do better next time.
But we cannot simply make sin disappear through our own efforts. We can’t correct the brokenness inside.
Adam and Eve could not undo what they had done. Neither can we undo our sinful condition by ourselves.
Sin has a power over us that we cannot overcome on our own. Sin put humanity into spiritual death so we are not alive to God’s will and way. We can try but we cannot fully obey God on our own. We will always break His laws.
We need someone stronger than us.
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 7:18
For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.
Our Need
We are helpless to save ourselves.
No amount of good works can erase our sin. We cannot earn our way back to God. We cannot become good enough to make ourselves whole.
We can try to cover our mistakes. We can try to hide our failures. We can try to convince ourselves that we are good enough and better than someone else.
But none of this changes our need for a Savior. We all need a Savior. We are all the same.
We need Christ. Each and every one of us.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.
Our Hope
Christ is our hope. God came to earth. He sent His son in human form, fully God and fully human. He came to do what we can’t do for ourselves.
He died for us. He took our place. He took our punishment. We deserve death and separation from God, but God in His great love for us showed us His grace and made a way for us to be reconciled to God.
Jesus is the only One who can truly cleanse us from sin and make us whole again. He can fix our brokenness. He can wipe the stains of sin and make us clean.
Through Christ, the power of sin is broken. We are no longer slaves to our old life. We can live differently when we accept Christ because Christ lives in us.
We will still struggle. We will still make mistakes. But sin no longer has to control us. We have a choice and forgiveness through Christ.
There is freedom in Christ.
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.
John 8:36
So if the son sets you free, you will be really free.
Salvation
Salvation is our reconciliation with God. It is our way back to Him.
Jesus made the way that we could never make ourselves. Through His death and resurrection, He opened the door for us to come back to God.
God does not want us to remain separated from Him.
He wants us to know Him. He wants us to walk with Him. He wants to make us whole again.
Salvation is not simply being forgiven for something we did wrong. It is being brought back into a relationship with the God who created us and loves us.
2 Corinthians 5:18
And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
New Nature vs. Old Nature
When we come to Christ, something changes within us. God changes us inside. His Word tells us we are given a new nature. We now have God’s power and His presence working within us. His peace fills us.
But our old nature does not simply disappear. It is still there and still can influence us. There is still a battle inside us. The old desires and sinful habits can continue to fight against the new life God is creating in us.
Every day we have choices to make.
Will we follow our old nature?
Or will we listen to God’s Spirit?
Through God’s power, we can overcome. We do not have to fight the battle alone. God offers a way out of every temptation.
God is working in us. We can pray and give God anything and He will help us.
Galatians 5:16
But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
Romans 8:5-7
For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.
New Creation
God does not simply forgive us and leave us where He found us. He begins remaking us. He begins His good work within us and continues it all our life.
His Spirit now lives within us. His Spirit teaches us, guides us, convicts us, encourages us, and renews us as we listen to Him.
The more we seek God and follow Him, the more He changes us.
He is patiently working within us. God is creating something new in us, and He has already prepared good works for us to do.
He made us for a purpose.
2 Corinthians 5:17
So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.
God’s Plan for Us
God planned our lives before creation. In His goodness He made a good plan and purpose for each of us.
He loves us more than we can understand. He sees the entire picture of our lives when we can only see today.
Sometimes we cannot understand what God is doing.
Sometimes we may wonder why He allows certain things.
But we can trust that His plans are better than ours.
Nothing can separate us from His love.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Thessalonians 1:9-10
They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony.
Our Life
Life does not always go according to our plans. We have hopes and dreams. We make plans for our future. We imagine how things will turn out.
But sometimes life takes a completely different direction. We have disappointments, broken dreams and hopes, fears and doubts, pain and grief, regrets and wrong turns.
We wish we could change things. But God sees more than we see. He sees our whole life and works within it to create something good in it all.
Our plans are limited by what we know today. God’s knowledge is unlimited.
We can trust Him with the life we cannot understand.
Proverbs 16:9
A person plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,” says the LORD, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.”
Mistakes & Failures
We mess up. We fall into sin. Temptation overtakes us. We make wrong decisions and go down wrong paths. We turn away from God and His truth and sometimes we justify it in our minds.
Sometimes we make mistakes because we do not know better. Other times we make wrong choices even when we do know better.
Sin easily entangles us. We fall so easily sometimes. The lies of the Devil and the lies we tell ourselves seem so true at times. And other times we stray off God’s path without realizing it or intentionally walking away.
We can find ourselves going down paths we never intended to take. One wrong decision can lead to another. One compromise can lead to another compromise.
But our failures do not surprise God. He already knows our weaknesses.
That does not mean our choices do not matter. They do. But our mistakes do not have to be the end of our story. They do not need to define our story. There is hope and forgiveness in Christ.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us.
Hebrews 4:15-16
For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
Redemption
God forgives. God redeems. His grace covers us. His love forgives us.
He can take the broken pieces of our lives and work them together for good. That does not mean every mistake was good. It means God is greater than our mistakes.
He can use what we thought was wasted. He can use our failures to teach us. He can use our pain to give us compassion. He can use our past to help someone else. He can take something broken and make something beautiful from it.
Look at Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery. He was falsely accused and spent years in prison. Yet God was working through all of it.
What others meant for evil, God ultimately used for good.
Genesis 50:20
As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
God is Not Done With Us
God is not finished with us. Just because we mess us and turn away from God and experience consequences.
We may even keep making mistakes and get stuck in sin and find ourselves far from God, but that doesn’t mean God has given up on us.
Rather it’s the opposite. God in His love has been chasing after us, calling us back to Himself.
The fact is, we are a work in progress.
Sometimes we look at ourselves and only see what is unfinished. We see the mistakes, the weaknesses, the areas where we still need to grow.
But God sees what we are becoming. He is creating a masterpiece. He sees what we are and will become in Him.
He patiently works within us, changing us little by little and making us more like Christ.
We may not see the progress every day, but God does. He offers His encouragement through His Spirit and His Word on our journey through life with Him.
Philippians 1:6
For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
God Can Still Use Us
God is still working in us and He still has plans for us. Our past or even our present does not disqualify us from being used by God.
Our mistakes do not make us useless to our creator. Our weaknesses do not prevent God from working through us.
In fact, God uses our weaknesses to show His strength. He is the one who sustains and holds us securely.
He keeps us. He teaches us. He restores us. He comforts us. He encourages us. He supports us in our journey of life no matter what. He is always there for us.
And He can use anything in our lives for His Kingdom. He only knows how to make the pieces of our lifework and fit together to bring goodness to us and glory to Him.
Every moment is another opportunity.
Every day is a new start.
We can wake up and choose God every morning and throughout our day.
We can turn back to Him anytime when we have turned away. He stands ready with open arms and love and forgiveness in His eyes.
We can ask Him to use us. We can seek His plan and purpose by listening to and following His Spirit.
There is still purpose in today. There is still hope to move forward with Christ.
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me.
Philippians 4:13
I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.
Live for God
Keep your eyes focused on God. When you stray, return to Him. When you fall, get back up. When you are discouraged, remember His promises.
Let His love and grace fill you until they begin to flow out of you to others.
Let His Spirit guide you and teach you.
Read and obey to His Word.
Follow His direction one moment at a time. Trust Him one day at a time.
We do not have to have everything figured out. We simply need to keep walking with our Savior.
Don’t look back. Instead look forward to God. Seek God’s Kingdom first.
Give Him your past, your present, and your future. Give Him all your mistakes and failures and watch Him work in it all.
You may be flawed, but you are not useless. You will make mistakes and fail at times, but are never too far from God’s forgiveness and grace to pick back up and move forward again with Him.
God can take an imperfect life surrendered to Him and use it for His perfect purposes.
He is not finished with you.
He is still working. He is still shaping. He is still redeeming. He is still reconciling. He is renewing you.
No matter what God can still use you.
Matthew 6:33
But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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