Good morning, lovely people of the internet!

The other day while reading my Bible I was cross-referenced over to 1 Samuel 12:20. I don’t even remember what I was reading that night, but the verse it sent me to stopped me in my tracks and nearly brought tears to my eyes.

“‘Do not be afraid,’ Samuel replied. ‘You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.'”

When we screw up or deliberately sin we often want to hide from the Lord or turn away because we feel unworthy, but this verse screams the opposite. We are not to turn away, we are to serve Him. 

I imagine God saying, “My child, I’ve seen what you’ve done. Bring it to Me and I’ll give you forgiveness. Now go, show others the forgiveness I’ve shown you, show them the mercy and grace that I have shown you.”

God isn’t a “three strikes and you’re out” kind of God, He’s a loving Father who wants what’s best for us and He knows what’s best. He can turn every mistake into a testimony, every struggle into a song of praise.

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“Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’”

John 8:10-11

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Photo Credit: Allef Vinicius