PerfectOn Monday I wrote a post on why you should screw up your life. I said fear paralyzes us from going after what God’s calling us to. His invitation may screw up the comfortable lives we’ve spent years crafting.

In writing that post, I had a nagging voice in the back of my head. The voice kept asking a question: What if I’ve already screwed my life up, but not in a good way?

Unfortunately we all make mistakes. We may have the best of intentions and still end up blowing it. Maybe it’s getting married before you were ready and having the marriage fall apart. Or maybe it’s failing at a job over and over. Or maybe it’s getting two college degrees and a mountain of student loan debt only to not use any of the degrees.

Oh wait, that last one hits home a little.

Whatever the situation is today, you likely didn’t set out to be in it. You didn’t write down, “Divorced dad at 28” on your paper in 2nd grade when the teacher asked what you wanted to be when you got older. You didn’t choose to be in your 50s wondering where your life went and how you ended up where you were.

Even though you didn’t choose it, the reality is you’re there.

Many of the heroes of the Bible were in similar situations. They had good intentions but screwed up the process bigger than we can imagine. Noah got drunk and ended up cursing his son. Peter got scared and cussed at people when they asked if he knew Jesus. David was horny, wrecked two marriages, and then had a dude murdered.

You know the common thread in all those stories?

God’s grace was bigger than their screw up.

Yes, there were consequences, but God still used those screw ups to do his mission.

There’s nothing you can do to disqualify yourself from God using you. Grace gives you permission to not be perfect. We can’t abuse that permission, but we can live in the freedom it gives us.

Grace allows you to mess up.

Grace allows you to make the wrong decision.

Grace allows you to blow it.

Wherever you are today, in whatever situation you’re in, you can recover. It may not be easy, and you may have to suffer some consequences, but you can bounce back.

You are not the result of your divorce.

You are not the product of your affair.

You are not the sum of your mistakes.

You are a child of the creator of the world who created you to do his mission. You are set apart to play a part that no one else on this planet can play. God has chosen you to do great thing.

And nothing you do can disqualify you from that.

(Side note, I felt a little gospel preacher writing that last part. I heard Steve Harvey reading it as I wrote it. Anyways, moving on…)

What mistake are you holding onto?

What past failure is impacting your future?

What lie about yourself are you believing?

I’ve written this before, and I’ll write it again I’m sure. I want to change the world. The only way to do it is if a bunch of messed up people come together and realize God’s grace is bigger than anything that could ever hold us back. We’re a messy bunch but we can impact history if we unite around grace and let that be our rallying cry.

What will you rally for?

What will you rally to?

How will you change the world?

Say your prayers and take your vitamins.

Have a nice day.

-Jonathan

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