Scripture Reading: Philippians 3 

Be encouraged by this truth today: change is possible. You and I don’t have to simply accept  or resign ourselves to living with our ever-present flaws, failures, mistakes, and regrets.  Christians should never be so discouraged in our sin and brokenness that we give in, throw  up our hands, and think, “It is what it is.” Since we believe in a God of redemption who is  making all things new (including me and you), we can hope in the reality that his grace is  always at work in our lives. God’s grace is transforming us into the perfect image of Christ— even if our transformation seems to be happening at a painfully slow pace. 

You and I can often fall into a pattern where we celebrate God’s grace and forgiveness  at church on Sundays, yet carry shame and guilt with us Mondays through Saturdays. And  though we may affirm that God gives grace to sinners even in their failings, many of us have a  hard time showing grace to ourselves in our own failings. We weigh ourselves down with  shame and guilt every time we’re confronted with the reality that we’re not the versions of  ourselves we want to be. This is precisely why we need to preach the gospel to ourselves  every moment of every day. The gospel is the power that removes the burden of shame and  guilt off our shoulders, and it offers us true freedom instead—freedom from the regrets of our  past, and freedom in knowing that God is making us perfect and spotless. And what God  sets out to do, he always accomplishes. 

In the Old Testament, God called his people to create altars that would serve as  reminders of all that God had done and how far he had brought them. Though they might not  have reached their destination, building those altars became about building checkpoints to  remember the God that was with them as they journeyed to their destination. Friends, we  need practices like that today. Perhaps it’s not a literal altar that you need to build, but how  can you build checkpoints in your life to remember the God who is with you and for you?  Because even though you may not be the version of yourself you wished you were, trust in  the God who is getting you where you need to go—he hasn’t failed you yet, and he won’t  start now