To hold our tongues when everyone is gossiping, to smile without hostility at people and institutions, to compensate for the shortage of love in the world with more love in small, private matters; to be more faithful in our work, to show greater patience, to forgo the cheap revenge obtainable from mockery and criticism: all these are things we can do.

Stop worrying about how you feel. You lied, you cheated, you lusted, you gorged. You snapped, you hated, you cussed, you masturbated. You killed, you manipulated, you rejected or ignored. You sinned. God doesn’t want just half of your heart. God doesn’t want you to talk to Him only when you’re in the mood to do so. God wants all of you. He wants you when you’re sinless and when you’re sinful. He wants you on the days when you’re strong and on the days when you relapse. He doesn’t want just your beautiful parts, He wants everything. Stop staying excuses. Stop listening to the devil. Stop thinking you can’t “go to God” because you feel you’re too unclean, ugly, or dirty. Stop worrying about how you feel because it’s not about you. Run to Him, even if you’d rather be dormant. Go to Him even if you’d rather hide in your guilt. Ignore your laziness, embarrassment, and shame and go spend some time with the One who died for every dirty thing you think keeps Him away.

You were made for more than just pain.

Heaven knows I’m prone to leave the only God I should have loved. …And yet, You’re far too beautiful to leave me.

When Jesus returns as King of Kings to Israel, he won’t judge us by how high up in our career we managed to get, how famous or popular we have become, or how we multiplied our money into millions. He is going to check out if we truly loved God and one another. So let’s focus our lives on that. Let’s not waste time looking good on the outside, buying things for show, winning the applause of men. As the Lord says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”