Is Your Faith Messy? Take the Chance to Live by Grace
 Your spiritual journey isn’t a straight path to flawless faith; it’s a winding path that sometimes takes you through significant struggles. No matter how messy your faith is, however, God will meet you in the middle of it. Embrace grace. Even if you think you don’t deserve to receive God’s grace, God wants to give it to you. Realize that there’s absolutely nothing you can do to make God love you any less or more than He already does – and He loves you unconditionally.
Be honest about your imperfections. Don’t waste your time or energy trying to be or seem perfect; it’s futile. Take a hard look inside your soul and ask God to help you see all that truly lies within it.
Pray. No matter what’s going on in your life, pray even when you don’t feel like it- prayer fuels your faith.
Stop judging. Don’t judge others who are struggling with their own messes in life. While you want to be the kind of person who will reach out to help others by telling them the truth, you need to do so in love.
Recognize the value of brokenness. God accepts and redeems your brokenness, and when you trust Him, He’ll take the broken pieces of your life and put them together in ways that will make you stronger.
Forgive. God has forgiven you often, and He calls you to forgive others who’ve hurt you and yourself for your own mistakes.
Know that God is enough. Place your confidence in God, despite His intangibility and invisibility. Rest in His presence rather than relying on things or people that can’t ultimately deliver the help you need in life.
Adapted from Messy Faith: Daring to Live by Grace, copyright 2008 by A. J. Gregory.
Pastor Russell
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