Life would be so much easier if I were perfect. Sadly, I am not. I am flawed. I am broken. And, as if that weren’t bad enough, everybody else — including those of you reading this devotional — are just as flawed and broken as I am. So we’re just a bunch of flawed, broken humans, living together on this planet. Our flaws and brokenness cause conflict with one another. Sometimes, the issues between two individuals can be so upsetting, so dire, so severe, that one person may end up writing off the other person entirely. At some point, you’ve probably heard somebody say something like:
“I am completely done with this person.”
“I literally can’t even with her.”
“He’s dead to me.”
Not only have you probably heard something like that, you may have even said it yourself. Why? What would cause you to completely wash your hands of another human being? There are a lot of potential reasons, but here are a few:
• The offender disappointed you. You had expectations that the offender failed to meet.
• You’ve reached your breaking point. The offenses kept piling up until there were just too many to forgive.
• The offender has hurt you so badly that you can’t find it in your heart to love them anymore.
In our human brokenness, these reasons make sense. Thankfully, God doesn’t treat us the way we treat one another.
The Lord will not reject his people;
he will not abandon his special possession.
— Psalm 94:14 NLT
Unlike us humans, our God is not bound by flaws or limitations.
• It is impossible to disappoint God. To disappoint somebody, your behavior has to surprise them. You can’t surprise God. He knows everything you have ever done and everything you will ever do. You will never catch him off guard. Never.
• God has no breaking point. You can’t break the unbreakable.
• God’s love has no limits. He will never stop loving you.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
— Lamentations 3:22–23 NLT
The fact that God’s love for us is perfect and unfailing is awesome enough, but the news gets even better! Remember all that stuff I said about how we humans are all flawed and broken? That’s all true, but those of us who are in Christ are no longer bound by the same limitations!
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
— 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
Sure, our feeble human hearts and minds are incapable of forgiving the unforgivable or loving the unlovable. But, as believers in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t have to rely on our weak human imitation of God’s patience and love. We now have access to the real deal. And by sharing that perfect love, we have the honor and joy of glorifying God and leading others to him through his perfect Son, Jesus Christ!
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
— John 13:35 NLT
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
— 2 Corinthians 5:20–21 NLT