SWHW Bible Reading Plan: June 2021Sample

Top Takeaway from Lauren Diggs:

Do you ever feel like there’s junk from your past that disqualifies you from being used by God? 

You’re not alone. I’ve felt that way, along with many women I’ve talked to over the years. I even kept parts of my past hidden because I lived in the shame and wondered how God could ever use me for the Kingdom with my baggage. 

But let’s take a quick look at Paul in Acts 26: 9-11. He lists off all the things from his “pre-Jesus” life that would make us wonder how God could ever use him:  

• He persecuted Christ-followers.  


• He had them imprisoned.  


• He led the charge in having many of them put to death. 

Talk about someone who had every right to question his purpose in Christ. I mean, Paul went from opposing Christians to the point of death to teaching about the salvation of Christ and His transforming power. 

How? 

Because God CHOSE Paul. Just like He’s chosen you. 

Your past isn’t meant to disqualify you from serving Jesus. It’s meant to display, to you and others, His saving grace.

Yes, others. Because we can also see in this chapter (and throughout the New Testament) that Paul didn’t just accept the salvation given through Jesus Christ and go on about his everyday life; he put it on display over and over and over again with his words and his actions. 

He didn’t let the shame of his past disqualify him from spreading the gospel. Instead, he used it to show how far-reaching God’s grace is. And how the Lord wants to use the broken and battered for His glory. 

Paul understood that he wasn’t qualified or disqualified by anything that he did or didn’t do, but it was the Father who qualified him to do the work set before him.

And we find this truth in Colossians 1: 9-14, where Paul tells us,

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We are able to see that all we have and are able to do comes from God, taking the pressure off of us to know it all or have it all together. This truth frees us from the shame that keeps us bound in our past instead of living in the purpose of God for our lives—to love Him, love others, and make disciples as we go.

So, don’t be afraid to share your story of redemption. There’s someone who needs to hear what God has done in you so they know what God can do in them, too. 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your saving grace. Thank You for redeeming what was once broken and lost. Please give me the courage to share that same redemption power with those around me and not live in the shame of my past. I know it is You and You alone that qualifies me to walk in Your purpose, and I want to tell of what You’ve done to bring glory to Your name. I love You, Lord. Amen.