A New Beginning

One of the things I stand in amazement of, and am most grateful for, is the new beginning I was given when I gave my life to Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17New International Version (NIV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

My life is riddled with mistakes, poor choices, and hurtful decisions that filled many of my years with shame. A shame so deep I felt undeserving of love, or forgiveness... much less a second chance.

As I have grown in my faith, in my knowledge of the Lord, I have come to realize we have all indeed fallen short and are not deserving of the greatest gift that has been bestowed upon the world.  A gift, freely given, unearned, with a love that can not be measured. 

My past no longer has me chained.  I can rest in His truth, and promise of a new creation.  The chains fell to the ground as I asked for His forgiveness, the forgiveness of those whose hearts I wounded, and perhaps the most difficult, the permission to forgive myself.   I am not deserving still, but through Him, by His blood and righteousness, I have, just like the butterfly, gone through a metamorphosis that changed my life forever.  I am free.