The Purpose of PainSample

It may sound trite, but up until my early twenties, I always felt that I was not just a good person, but a really good person. If there was pain in my life, it was someone else’s fault. I was a good person. My broken relationships, my lost friendships, my broken family…. was all their fault. I was a “good person.” Everything changed the night I cheated on my boyfriend (whom I would later marry). Up until that point, I had found a way to place responsibility for pain in my life on others. But for the first time, I realized this pain was my fault. I realized for the first time that I was a sinner. I had always believed in God; I had just never believed that I was a sinner. It was this moment of pain that changed the trajectory of my life. This is when I chose to follow Jesus, not with my words but with all my heart, soul, and mind. I knew I was in need of a savior. For God to truly deal with pain in the world, He had to deal with sin. And for God to deal with the pain in your life, it begins with you allowing Him to deal with your sin. For so many years, I never allowed God to deal with my pain because I never allowed him to deal with my sin. All pain in life begins with sin.  Confessing our sin is the only way to experience God’s redemption of our pain. Challenge: Create a list of sins you are carrying in your life. Pride, envy, shame, etc. Write out the list and humbly ask Christ Jesus to forgive you for each item on the list.