Letters To My 15 Year Old Self

Dear 15 year old self,

How’s it going?  

Actually, I know how its going. After all, I was you many years ago, 25 years to be exact. When I was you, I could have gained great benefit by hearing from my 40 year old self. I wish I could go back in time but this is the best I can do. So much wisdom. So much experience. 

So much more gray hair.

When I was you, 15 year old self, I could play basketball all night and wake up the next day with zero soreness.

Now I wake up sore, and I didn't even do anything the night before.

So here I am, or here you are. Or there you are. Or here we are. 

Or something.

My hope in writing you, 15 year old self, is that you might avoid some pitfalls. You might learn a few lessons. But my intent is not to spare you from pain completely. Some of your greatest lessons will be learned through difficulty and in turn you will learn how to be resilient.

Strength is only developed if resistance is present, even though we may dislike it at the time.

So I think one of the greatest character traits you should learn, 15 year old self, is resilience.

RESILIENCE

How does one define resilience? Here's one definition: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

At this point in your life, 15 year old self, you have lost friends in car accidents. You have changed schools multiple times. You have been bullied at school for having a speech impediment. You feel anxious at school. You don’t feel comfortable in your own skin. You're had to overcome difficulties. You've had to be tough.

You have had to be resilient every. Single. Day. Give yourself some credit! You’ve gotten this far! Middle school was super rough!

Where have you drawn the strength to be consistently resilient? You parents and family have been a huge source of strength for you, and that’s important, but you have actually had a spiritual strength your whole life and you don’t know it yet.

God has been with you. You might not be aware of it much, but He has been.

The world will tell you that you learn resilience from yourself. Many believe they can have their own morality and create their own foundation for their life based on their education, their immediate cultural influences, their money, their upbringing and their own notions of right and wrong.

Many may tell you that you are the master of your own fate. 

Let me tell you this: fate is a cruel taskmaster that leaves you at the whim of every notion and direction of your heart. 

Don’t be a person of fate. 

Be a person of faith. 

Fate is not the same thing as faith. Follow your heart? What if you heart is inherently deceitful and prone to wickedness? Should you follow it then?

I think you know the answer to this question. 

The majority of your peers, 15 year old self, are going to “follow their hearts” and do whatever they feel is right. But don’t be like them, 15 year old self. Please, please do not do this. There is a broad way that many think is right, but it leads to destruction. If you plant seeds in your life that are only about yourself, then you will only reap temporary rewards. 

Do you want to be a resilient person? Then ask yourself this question: in whom or what do you trust? Is it yourself? You will eventually fail. Is it in a relationship or another person? They will inevitably fail you. Do you place your hope in future wealth or a successful career? 

Do not place your ultimate hope in something you may eventually lose.

Instead, place your hope in God, whom you will never lose. When the storms of life come (this is a “when” statement. Not an “if”) you will be able to withstand them. 

But you know what? To be 15 years old is hard. Very, very hard. You honestly don’t get enough credit for all you have to do each day. It’s hard to be resilient. I know you feel your heart being pulled in dozens of directions at any given moment. Your body and mind are changing daily and you’re not exactly sure how to feel sometimes.

ACCEPTANCE

To compensate for all of the adolescent change you feel, you have a tendency to gravitate towards acceptance.  

Instant acceptance can be a sanctuary from the war you feel within yourself each day.

I’ve seen you do it. I was you, after all. This is why the party scene or other negative influence is so alluring. It is instant acceptance! Who doesn’t want to feel accepted?

But not all acceptance is beneficial.

It is always better to walk alone in wisdom than to be manipulated by the expectations of acquaintances. 

I know that you are easily prone to the suggestions of “friends” and because of that, you don’t want to let them down. As a 15 year old, you are incredibly self conscious, but guess what? All of your friends are equally self-conscious, too! Everyone else is equally worried about the opinions of others. 

Don’t worry about what others want from you. What do YOU want? Instead of trying to find the right friend, put yourself in the driver’s seat: be the friend you would like to have. You are in control.

How about instead of allowing others to dictate your life, you decide who you would like to become and you surround yourself with people you admire? 

Don’t sell yourself short. You are worth it.

PARENTS

When you’re 15, it’s hard to know who to trust. You know your parents love you, but you don’t feel like you can go to them. This is a mistake. I wish I had confided in parents more, trusted them more. This is a big regret of mine. 

I wish I had realized that my parents are people too. They used to be 15 years old. Don’t buy the lie that your parents are against you. They are not. They love you. They taught you how to speak, to read, how to use the toilet, how to be a person. They have literally walked with you every day of your life and will never stop loving you.

I know you don’t want to think about it, but your parents actually dated each other. (audible gasp)

They are real people who have not always been your parents, so show them empathy and understanding. This goes a long way in building trust in any relationship, especially a relationship as vital as one between a parent and a child. 

Open your heart to them and tell them how you’re doing. Don’t allow wedges to come between this vital relationship. Fight for your parents and their trust. They have always been fighting for you. Return the favor. You won’t regret it, especially as you get older.

DATING

Phew, ok here we go.

15 year old self, I know you think about one thing all day long: sports.

15 year old self, your desire for a dating relationship is at its core a good thing. God has designed you for marriage, to know and be known in this holy union that was created for human flourishing. God made marriage, and He made it to be a blessing.

But it's a blessing designed with parameters for our benefit.

As you grow older, however, do not seek to satisfy this desire in all the wrong places. When we’re young, we are impatient, impertinent and occasionally arrogant. We think we know what we want. We have biological urgings that drive us forward, urgings that again are God-given at their origin.

But listen to me: slow down. Wait. Breathe. Trust God for your future.

Let God grow you into a more mature person before you dive into a relationship. Ask yourself this question: would you want to date someone just like yourself, as you are right now? Is your heart, soul and character the type of person you would want to date? If you’re not that person yet, then wait.

Love desires to always give; lust desires only to take.

Read that sentence again.

Many young relationships are driven only by lust and they eventually flame out. They look for love in all the wrong places.

You can’t find love by taking.

Many seek to satisfy a God-given desire by taking instead of giving. This is an empty well that will not satisfy. Instead of always looking for what someone can give you, allow God to form you into more of a giver.

This takes time. Years. And it’s not going to happen while you’re in high school. So wait. Breathe. Slow down. You're not as ready as you think you are.

If you can't consistently care for a puppy, how can you adequately care for someone'e heart in a relationship?

A dating relationship or even a marriage is not going to fix you. If anything, it will put a giant spotlight on your immaturity, your inability to effectively communicate and your desire to only take.

Don’t buy into the lie that dating is a “test run” before the real thing: marriage. By no means should you kiss dating goodbye, but be very, very picky. Remain single and wait for God to make it blatantly obvious when you have met the right person. (He will. He’s God. God always gets it right)

Here’s the deal: Either a relationship works or it doesn’t. If you feel like you’re compromising, then it’s not going to last.

If you really believe God will provide the right person and you want to save yourself for marriage (and I know at your core you do), then make this your prayer: God, grow me into a future husband with godly character now, so that when I meet this person, I am prepared.

If you really do trust God for this future person, then act like it. Do what it takes now. Wisdom prepares for the event before it happens. 

That is faith in action. 

Believe God will provide them in due time, and until He does, allow God to develop within you with the qualities you would want to see in your future spouse.

Don’t seek the change. 

Seek God.

Seek God and seek first His kingdom and in time He will bring the change in your life. When God does it, it will be perfect for you.

All of this sounds good on paper (or on a screen), but it is hard. Trust me, I know. I had to pop all those pimples. I had to deal with rejection.

You will make mistakes in this area. Many do make mistakes, even with the best of intentions. When you do make a mistake, God is there to forgive, every time.

But trust me on this. How you handle this question of dating or finding a future spouse (or choosing to remain single, even) is the second most important question of your life.

It’s that important.

What is the first, most important question of your life?

I’m glad you asked.

CHRIST AS SAVIOR

Who are you? Why are you here? These are the big questions, aren’t they? You think about them all the time, 15 year old self. I know you do. You constantly think the deep questions about your core identity, and that's good.

What you believe about yourself as your core identity will shape your decisions in life. You have heard accusations against your core identity every day: you’re not good enough, you're flawed, you’ll never make it, you're not friends with the right people, etc. 

You have heard these accusations before (and you’ll hear them again) and that’s ok.

Hear me on this, 15 year old self: Let me shed some light on this for you. When you hear accusations against you, it’s not from God.

You didn't generate them, either.

Satan’s name is The Accuser.  He accuses everyone day after day, and they're all lies. You will hear these accusations, over and over. I encourage you to listen to the good things that God says about you in His Word. Eventually, the accusations will lessen in time.

We all hear these accusations against our core identity, but the real tragedy is if you begin to believe these accusations as your identity.

If you believe you are ugly, worthless or damaged somehow your words and decisions will reflect that core belief.

But here’s the wonderful thing about belief: you get to choose. It’s up to you. Life does not merely happen to you. You are the times in which you live. You are the result of the choices you make, for better or worse.

If finding your spouse (or staying single) are the second most important questions of your life, here is the number one question you will ever answer:

Do you know Jesus has forgiven you?

I know what you’re thinking: "Well, I believe in God. I have gone to church my whole life."

Yes, that is all well and good (and true), but that doesn’t answer the question.

God loves you, 15 year old self, but you are more of a sinner than you think you are.

Your ears are stopped up, your eyes have scales on them. May they be removed. 

God loves you as you are, and He also loves you too much to leave you as you are.

Do you know Jesus has forgiven you?

If you know Jesus has forgiven you, it also implies a few other truths: that you know Jesus as Lord over your life. If you know Jesus has forgiven you, it means that you have realized you have something in which to be forgiven. 

It means that you know that you are a sinner. In order to receive grace, you have to learn what is at stake.

You may feel that you have nothing to be forgiven. 

Think of it this way: why do you have a conscience? Why do you feel shame or guilt? Those feelings are the result of sin, the result of breaking a moral law. The shame points to the sin.

I ask you this question, 15 year old self, not to tear you down. Not at all. I ask you this actually to build you up. It’s the most important question because your eternity depends on how you answer. If you know Jesus has forgiven you (and He has and He does), then it unlocks a completely new world for you.

Once you experience the grace of God in light of your sin it changes how you treat your neighbor. It changes how you view your role in the world. It humbles you and this leads to godliness. Jesus has bought you with his own body and blood. He is the ultimate servant King, and if you claim to follow in His footsteps (and I know you’re trying), then you are called to love the world like that, in big and small ways.

If you know Jesus has forgiven you, then you know that your life is not your own anymore. He is your example to follow and this is good news. Know that your life is not your own, and may you be a person of grace and truth just as Jesus was, as you follow in the footsteps of your Savior.

15 year old self, as you go about your days, God will be with you. In your lying down and in your work, in your play and in your sleep, God will go before you, God will support you, God will never let you down.

You can do this.

Fentanyl, Teenagers and our Nation's Opioid Crisis

In our local high school, I recently heard accounts of teenagers vaping fentanyl in bathrooms while on campus. Students were found unresponsive and EMS had to be contacted to revive the students.

Apparently, Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid, estimated to be 50 times more powerful than pure, pharmacy-grade heroin. Medically, it’s often used for chronic pain patients and those who are likely to experience intense pain such as cancer patients.

Now with the recent advent of vaping, fentanyl can be ingested without even creating an odor. An overdose of fentanyl is what was later revealed to kill the singer Prince. 

This is a most troubling development in our American culture. This "opioid crisis" continues to sweep across our nation and is claiming hundreds of young lives at an alarming pace. Parents and school administrators can feel helpless as this epidemic continues.

As a pastor who has served in United Methodist youth ministry for 15 years, drug use among teenagers is nothing new in my experience. I've always known students who have smoked pot, dropped acid or drank heavily. Its always been a problem, and the problem continues to grow.  The lives of our children are at risk and are under attack.

Without intervention, I have also seen where every one of these stories unfortunately end: young potential wasted, criminal records or worse, the loss of life.

Many young people, when confronted with the option to quit drug use, scoff at the reality of peer pressure as the cause. Denial is the attitude of the day. "Who are you to tell me how to live my life? I can control my own actions. Its not that big of a deal. No one is forcing me to do drugs" they may say.

What young people always fail to see is that they are ultimately seeking acceptance. 

Teenagers understandably want a place to fit in and feel welcome. They want to escape their problems. They want peace. The drug or party scene provides that immediate gratification.  They are seeking the innately good desire of acceptance in all of the wrong places. In order the quell the inner restlessness they feel, substances are consumed to fill a void that only Christ can fill.

Augustine of Hippo is a massively important figure in church history, but before he became a saint in the Catholic church, wrote his Confessions and other important theological works, he was a restless, wandering young person. He dabbled with various religions and sought out constant sexual gratification, but never found true peace in his life.

Eventually, at the age of 31, as Augustine later told it, his conversion to Christ was prompted by a childlike voice he heard telling him to "take up and read", which he took as a divine command to open the Bible and read the first thing he saw.

This is what he read:

Romans 13:13-14 - New Living Translation (NLT)

13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Augustine would eventually famously write that, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Augustine's conversion testimony (and my own, in fact) were not just words: he lived it. He lived through the restless period of life, seeking acceptance from whomever would give it, but it didn't satisfy the deepest longings of his soul. 

His heart was restless until it found rest in Christ.

It wasn't until the winding path of his life led to the person of Jesus Christ that everything changed. 

The demons were driven out. The restlessness was over. True peace was discovered. God, by his grace, reached out and touched him, and he was never the same. 

If you are a young person and you are reading this, know that there is hope for your life. 

You are not defined by your failures or your pain. Whatever acceptance you are seeking, know that God stands ready to receive you and give you a new heart, a new nature and a peace that only God can give. Consuming drugs, having illicit sex or drinking is an empty well. You will not find the refreshment you seek in those places.  "For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want." (Galatians 5:17)

God isn't out to spoil your fun. Rather, he's out to show you a much, much better way, beyond anything you could imagine.

Only in Christ will you find peace for your soul and the demons of addiction can be driven out. Take up and read what God has to say. He loves you and wants you to live a clean, righteous, and virtuous life with the Spirit of God living within you.

If you are a parent of a young person with addiction reading this, my prayers are with you. 

There are resources available for support, such as PALS (Parents of Addicted Love Ones) that can help. You are not alone in this struggle.

Comment below. Thanks for reading. 

Free Youth Group Christmas Party Game Idea: Bobbing for Canes

Experiencing the new birth of Christmas

Every since I was a little kid, I have loved Christmas. Like, at a hyperactive level. Each morning in December, I used to run down the stairs first thing in order to move the Advent calendar to the next day.

When the movie Elf was released in 2003, one of the good friends at the time told me that Elf reminded them of me.

I’ll take that as a compliment.
But honestly, I was most excited about the presents, the incandescent lighting, the decorations, and that tin box full of sugar cookies. The real meaning of Christmas, as we often hear, gets lost, and looking back when I was as a young teenager, it was awfully hard not to be distracted by all the other Christmas “stuff”.

When we hear about Christmas in church, we hear a lot of “God with us”, and that is true, but what does that mean to us today? More important, why should this matter to teenagers?

The author of the gospel of John doesn’t talk about Mary, Joseph, the wise men, or the shepherds. As John often does, he attempts to display a different angle on our Christology. Instead of beginning his gospel in a literal fashion, he does so in a philosophical and theological manner:

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Jesus’ birth occurred for a host of reasons, one of which was to bring “his life (that) brought light to everyone”. This life and light that Jesus brings is undefeated, inextinguishable, forever glorious and illuminated.

The Incarnation is a powerful mystery in its origin and reality, and yet it is simultaneously accessible to all humans on our most fundamental levels of existence.

God came to be with us so that God could live IN us. The good news of the Incarnation is that, through the new birth of the Holy Spirit, we can not just “go to heaven when we die”, but actually become like Christ here on earth, (hopefully) bringing light and life to all WE encounter as well. The Christmas story is indeed a gift to receive, but it is equally important as a gift to share.

May you experience this new birth for yourself this holiday season. Let us encourage our teenagers to do the same.

People over Programs

Our middle school ministry has really be exploding lately, as in numerically. Not the violent sort. Its been a tough lesson learned, but over the years I've realized the importance of people over programs. Youth workers/ministers are notorious for pumping up games, pizza, crazy antics, pizza, games, etc. When a huge crowd arrives it may temporarily pump up our ego, but what measurable results are there after its over?

I recently went to a National Day of Prayer gathering in my community and there were three other youth ministers present from churches in my community. One of these peers walked from student to student, talking very briefly with them, and began pitching his upcoming summer camp, handing out flyers and the whole bit. It seemed like he only showed up to partially pray, but mostly to further his ministry’s event.

I’m all for evangelism, and I love summer camp, but it felt like the wrong venue.

I realized that youth ministers (myself included) have a tendency to focus so much on the EVENT that we forget about PEOPLE. If we aren’t careful, we can fall into a sort of evangelical-pharisaical ministry practice, focusing more on “doing” and less on simply “being” with God’s people.

Jesus always focused on the person in a relational sense, and then ministry could flow from that. Flipped the other way, it can quickly become about ego, numbers, and “salvations”. I’m all about seeing students get saved, but I want to do it God’s way, not in a way that has me charging ahead without listening to the Spirit’s guidance.

Ministry is about relationships: our relationship with students, (more importantly) our volunteers relationship with students, and everyone’s relationship with God. If we forget that and focus only on events and flash, our ministries can have the outward appearance of “health” when in reality they will have no longevity, and the discipleship we worked so hard for in the live of teenagers will not carry over into their young adult years.

Its a lot harder to slow down and seek relationships with students over event planning. It takes time, patience, risk (especially if you’re an introvert) and so much more. But it is what God is calling us to do.

God sought us out first for a relationship with us (1 John 4), shouldn’t we seek to do the same with students?

Boys think about one thing....(the dating message)

Its true.

Boys think about one thing.

Sports.

Seriously though, this coming week we'll be discussing dating, relationships and all that is involved with that whole bugaboo.

When I was in high school, thoughts of finding "the one" consumed my life at times, almost to the point of consistent distraction and/or occasional depression. Many young people look for someone to "complete" them, but the focus is all wrong. As Jesus says, "wisdom is proved right by her actions."  I focused constantly on what I didn't have, and I was usually miserable as a result. I so desperately wanted a girlfriend, but never got one at the time.  

Now I'm incredibly thankful it shook down that way.

Instead of looking for "the one", we should be trusting God to make us "be the one" for someone else...down the road. Instead of focusing on what we don't have (i.e. a boy/girl friend), God wants us to focus on what we do have (Jesus, the Spirit, godly friends, sports/the arts, activities, our church, etc) and celebrate those things, trusting God to provide "the one" at the right time.

This is a radical shift from celebrating selfishness to celebrating thankfulness, from being led by the flesh to being led by the Spirit, from demanding your inheritance now as opposed to letting it come at the right time.

You're not single because you're only nice to girls (or because you're "ugly").

You're single because singleness is actually a gift.  Singleness provides you time to focus on what's most important and to trust God to provide when God knows you are ready. 

Singleness allows us space to be reminded that who we are sexually is not our main descriptor in life.  

Singleness allows you time to answer the question, "Would you date....you?"  Are you honestly the kind of person, at your stage in life, who is ready to give themselves over to another person in a healthy way that eventually leads to marriage?  Would you date someone who is in the same place as you are right now (emotionally, spiritually, etc)?

If you're not ready to date "you", then what steps do you need to take now in order to develop qualities you want to see in your future spouse?  

How can you develop the qualities of a good mate now so that when you meet "the one", you're actually ready for it?

If you wait to date and focus on becoming the right person, you are able to let God be in control of your relationships. 

But what if you're already dating someone?  There is nothing wrong with dating at a young age.  Dating isn't wrong (God put that desire within us for a reason) but it is dangerous to do so at a young age.  The pitfalls are many, and very few emerge unscathed. If you are dating someone, boundaries need to be in place.  Boundaries establish value, not hindrance.  Purity is a blessing, not a burden.  

We'll post more about that next week!  

Epic Fail: how we can learn from our failures

Here is the transcript from the first message in our Epic Fail series:

When I talk about fails tonight, its about moral failures when we know we screwed up and can make it right..  I’m not referring to when someone you love gets sick, or passes away, or disaster.  Some things are not so simple they can be explained as “it happened for a reason.” Or that it happened “for our good”.

 Our moral failures, however, we can learn from.

The myth of “be safe”

We’re not talking about this to make anyone feel ashamed for failing.  We’ve all failed and will fail.   All of life can be a risk.  Its always better to try and potentially fail then not try at all. Where do we see Jesus praying this?  Where do we see him admonishing people to “be safe”?  

Where do we see the disciples or people in church history concerned about failure?   The possibility of failure is always present.  God doesn’t call us to be afraid of failure or to “be safe”, he calls us to be faithful, in prayer, willing to be used by God.

Some fails are avoidable.

If you are responsible at the beginning, some fails are avoidable. That's wisdom. Putting things off isn't just lazy, it's a spiritual issue. If you devote work for Christ you do it well and do it quickly.

Story. Me skipping school mom saw dad said "what if I skipped work everyday?" Burn. Fail would've been avoided if I was just faithful with my task, which was simple: go to school and do the work. Was it fun at the time to go to school?  Not always.  But it was certainly better than getting busted for skipping school and getting in trouble, that’s for sure.

When you fail, how do you respond?  

Feeling shame after we fail is to be expected, and shame doesn’t feel good.  You want to make it go away as soon as possible.  But running from your shame, and your failure, is one of the worst things you could ever do.  

We all fail:  don’t let shame hold you down.  What is shame?  Its our conscience helping us know right from wrong.  But what is our conscience?  

Don’t run from conscience.  Shame is God trying to get your attention to help you make better decisions.  Shame is how we can learn right from wrong.  Shame is not a bad thing.  Those who are wise and make good decisions are those who listen to God’s counsel through their conscience, through their shame.  Listening, and learning from, our shame can help prevent more failures in the future.  Is this easy?  Not at all.  Its actually one of the most emotionally difficult things to do.  

Its a choice to learn from your shame.  Its a decision to seek to grow in wisdom at any cost.  Its a choice to learn from shame, a choice that should come from your love for Christ.  You want to do better because your love him.  Don’t just learn from your mistakes because you have to.  Do it because you want to honor God in all that you do and because you love Jesus.  

Failure is how we learn

Crosby scholars and my dad story - failed, grounded for 73 years, no (home) phone, super tense.

The Bible is full of flawed people who made mistakes and God used them anyway.

God is with you.  Remember God’s character

Deut 31:6 - Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”

Psalm 111:2-4

2 How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!

   All who delight in him should ponder them.

3 Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.

   His righteousness never fails.

4 He causes us to remember his wonderful works.

   How gracious and merciful is our Lord!

God has never failed and will never fail.  It can be hard to imagine someone who has never failed.  In fact, everyone you know has failed at one time or another, but God hasn’t.  

In fact, if you truly believe in God, failure should not even be in your vocabulary.  Total failure sounds like there is no hope, no future, no silver lining, but for those who know the Lord, we know that our failures are not the end.  God is with us in our failures.

Let’s look at the ultimate epic fail, or so it seemed to everyone at the time:  the cross.  When Jesus was given a fake trial and crucified, it looked like the biggest epic fail in history.  The movement was over, his followers were scattered, all was lost.  Then God proceeded to take what looked like death, and turn it into life.  Not only was Jesus raised from the dead, God then poured out the Spirit on the early church, as you heard this morning in Sunday school, to bring radical change to the world.  

28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28

When you’re in the midst of a gigantic fail, its very hard to see anything positive out of it.  But if you keep faith, and trust God, God can use it for the good

- this applied to Jesus as well.  

Jesus was faithful to God to the point of death, whatever the cost.  Clearly in the garden of Gethsamane the night before, as he prayed all night long, Jesus was struggling.  He felt the weight of what he knew he had to do, and was so crushed the Bible says that blood emitted from the pores of his skin.  Jesus was willing to fail in the eyes of the world because 1) he was faithful to the will of His father and 2) he knew our sin had to be atoned for.  

Jesus willingly entered into this “ultimate fail”...out of love.  

What failures are you struggling with?  How is shame holding you down?  Accept the forgiveness of God and move on.  Shame can force us to pick our offering back up and hold onto it again.  You are forgiven.  Leave it on the altar.  Confess your failure and keep on moving.  

Maybe someone has failed you.  God calls us to forgive them.  Forgiving someone won’t change the past, but it can change your future.  God’s forgiveness can turn your fail into a bright future.

God doesn’t want you to stay stuck in your yesterday.  He want to set you free for today and tomorrow.