Good Enough?

Hard to believe it's midway through January already. January is a weird month. For some it represents new beginnings, starting over, making new years resolutions. Many people in January think "This will be the year that I ..." get in shape, stop smoking, stop drinking, find a job, or whatever else you want to fill in the blank with. New years resolutions can certainly be wonderful things. They show our desire to grow and mature. They help us recognize that we are not perfect, that we could stand to improve on a few things.

Yet by this point in January, many New Years resolutions have been broke, discarded and/or forgotten. People once again feel like a failure, like they're not good enough because they still aren't in shape, still smoke, still drink, still don't have a job, or whatever their own particular struggle may be. They were more determined than ever a few weeks ago. And yet now, it seems like they have lost all hope of ever changing.

One of the most common New Years resolutions is to start going to church again. But most people who resolve to go back to church, resolve to go to church only after getting other things in their life squared away. Many people feel like they cant go to church or have a relationship with God until all their ducks are in a row, that they have to be good enough to go to church or for God to accept them.

But lucky for us, God loves all of us, and accepts us just as we are. No one at church or outside of church has everything figured out. We all have a past, we have all made mistakes, we've all done things we wish we hadn't, and we've all not done things we wish we had. But God knows who we are and God loves us.

God doesn't require of us that we get our life together before God is willing to welcome us with open loving arms. God doesn't expect us to change and be perfect before we can enter into a relationship with God. Instead God wants to help us become the people we were created to be. God wants you to know that you are loved and accepted. God wants to be a part of your life, right now, even in the messyness. So when you start to think you're not good enough, know this: God loves you just as you are. In God's opinion, you are good enough to be a part of a relationship with God. As far as getting things right in your life, God wants to help you with that too. God wants to be a part of the transformation.

Regardless of what is going on in your life, God wants to be a part of it. And so do we. You are always welcome to be a part of Calvary United Methodist Church.