So, sin can be a good thing???

God uses all things, even my sin, ultimately for my good.

When I think on this, Matthew 5:3 comes to my mind. I’m especially fond of the way it reads in The Message paraphrase:

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule.

Guess that’s what I can say is the biggest way God has used even my selfish, stupid sins for my own good; my sin and the results have made me realize that I really am nothing. That it’s only through God that my life has value and meaning. It’s only when I’m in connection with Him that the gifts, personality, and talents that He created me to use for His glory flourish.

I could relate to Joyce’s post this week in that I grew up in church and was a total goody two shoes. One of the good things about that is that I stayed out of trouble, one of the bad things is that it can be easy to see others as mess ups. But in my twenties, thirties and even my early forties I had more than enough of my own mess ups. I had this intense need to be loved and valued; unfortunately I looked for the fulfillment of these needs in people. So of course I was never satisfied. It wasn’t until after two failed marriages, and untold heartache that I really begin to learn, on more than a head level, that the love my heart so hungered for, and the value I so earnestly sought after, could only be found in my relationship with God.

So, would I say that my sin was a good thing? No, I can’t exactly say that. But I can say that God in His grace and mercy took something as yucky as my own sin and used it to change me into someone better. Used it to bring me to a place where I desired Him foremost. Used it to bless me.

Isn’t God good?!

Is Loving God Enough? I Mean That Should Count for Something!

How can a drug addict, or a person who has committed a felony get into heaven? Is it different if you didn't become destitute, or didn't get caught? What about a pedophile, or one of these female teachers that has a sexual relationship with an underage student? Oh sure there are less heinous crimes and actions. Sin is an often elusive task master. What about the ones that we can't even remember, or that were so long ago, we sort of forgot about them?

Your Kingdom Bloggers are no strangers to sin, but we have received that grace of God, and the forgiveness of those sins. And the bast part? God is not using if for our own good.


Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


So what is it that God works for the good of those who love him? Everything! Many Christians get caught up in doing stuff for God, and somehow that service is meant to equate with loving God, and His ability to make some blessings happen on our behalf. I guess it could be that, but God loves everything about us!

My take is that God uses everything that we have ever done - everything! That means our sin too. If God can let a murderers into Heaven (Moses, Paul and David to name a few), then a good question is how does he use our sin for the good of the Kingdom?

The simple answer is testimonies. We were once lost and now we are found - that sort of thing.

My own journey includes plenty of bad stuff - but because the new man runs my life most of the time, some people find the missing old man a miracle.

It is interesting that I spent half my life trying to break addictions to booze, drugs, cigarettes and the like. Every so often I meet someone at church that is going through what I went though 30 + years ago, and God moves. Each one of us has made bad decisions, and sometimes that path, as hellacious as it is, is the very one that lands us in the arms of a loving Father.

How about you, has God used your bad decisions and mistakes - yes your sin - to glorify His name?