Pasts. We all have pasts. Some are filled with mistake after mistake or sorrow after sorrow while others are more "typical," more average. Your average lives are going to church every Sunday (maybe), attending prom with your high school sweetheart (or crush), graduating, settling down and having two kids. That's pretty typical. Then others are born in poverty, stuck in addictions, suffer child abuse or barely graduate. If they're lucky they'll land a job at McDonalds or Walmart.
The way I see it, life comes in two shades: black and white. Black metaphorically are those who aren't privileged or suffer through life whether the suffering is brought on by them or not (for example, a drug addict is to blame for beginning the addiction but a child is not to blame because they were born in poverty). White metaphorically is the privileged: those who have just enough resources to sleep, eat, drink, and take care of themselves. There really is not gray area. You're hot or you're cold. You're black or you're white.
But here's the beauty of it all: Christ came to save the mediocre lives from pride and materialistic instincts, from never being satisfied and always striving for more. He came to save those trudging through life that can't seem to find shelter anywhere or those who reach the edge with no way back.
He ended the cosmic struggle between humans and God against sin. He paid the price and now calls us to life. How does it connect?
He says we're not struggling to be free, but we're free to struggle and free to grow spiritually and emotionally from our struggles no matter our past or circumstances. As if that's not magical enough, He IS our strength when we can't muster any up.
We are free from just black or just white lives. Now we can follow Life, and enjoy it abundantly in Christ.
The extreme struggle's over. Now we're just struggling to grow.
Here's my version of the quote above: "I'm thankful for my struggles because without them I never would have become stronger." How amazing to know that one day Christ will show me how each and every struggle worked for my good-the little goods I never notice.
So remember you're free to struggle. You're free to grow from those struggles. I pray Jesus will help us all to take each struggle day by day until we reach ultimate sanctification.
Thank you for reading. If you were blessed, I would encourage you to share this.
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