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by Sherry Chamblee

• Does one negative circumstance have to ruin my day? 
• Does one bad interaction have to destroy a relationship? 
• Does something traumatic have to define us? 
• Does one sin have to define the rest of our lives?

I wonder about this sometimes. I feel like this is the case much of the time. I’m guilty of letting one thing affect entire relationships permanently. I’m guilty of thinking this is how others see me. I’m guilty of letting one sin affect my relationship with God.

But the Bible says this doesn’t have to be the case. The Bible is filled with stories of people who did bad things, some are even the things we consider major sins, but are held up as beacons to follow in other ways. The Bible is filled with second chances.

Look at David, for example. God saw his sin of adultery and murder … it’s not like God just didn’t realize it had happened. God saw what David had done, and later in life, after David had repented, God still held him up as a man after God’s own heart. David was tainted in our eyes, yes, but God saw him as just because David had repented of that. God was able to wipe that slate clean for David, and He can do it for you too.

So today I’d just like to remind you, and myself, that God is the God of another chance. He sees us fail and He asks us to come to Him anyway. He sees us reject Him and He asks us to come back and be forgiven. He sees us do terrible things and He tells us He’ll wipe the slate clean and it’ll be just like we’d never sinned at all.

And then, since God does that for us, can’t we do that for ourself? And then, can’t we do that for someone else? 

John 3:17 King James Version (KJV) 

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

I understand that sometimes another person is so damaging that we just can’t be around them long term, or sometimes not at all. I think in those cases though, we can’t carry the resentment around in our hearts. We have to wipe that slate clean. Let it go.

There’s so much God has let go of for our sakes.

About the Author:

Sherry grew up in various cities around northern and central California. This gave her all sorts of stories that sat and festered in her brain, waiting to be let loose. She eventually went to college in Wisconsin, where she met her equally frenetic husband, Rich. They have six (yes, count them) children, two dogs and a cat, and currently reside in a madhouse in the southern California area. As a family, they enjoy being active in their local church. Sherry spends her time writing when not caring for Granny, the kids, the dogs, the cat and any number of strays in the neighborhood.

Sherry Chamblee can be found at http://www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com Or check out her books at http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Chamblee/e/B00BA06RJ2/