A simple word...What comes to mind when I hear it? Thankful, grateful, favor shown upon.
Redeemed.
Some don't grasp what that means. For me, I understand it well. I'm a human being, flawed, making mistakes on a daily basis. I make them with my husband, I make them with my kids, I let my friends down from time to time; not returning a call or email, forgetting a lunch date or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Redeemed is knowing that you are imperfect, and yet you are still loved, by Our Creator, the one who created us in HIS image. In and of my own self, I can't get back to how HE intended for me to be, to be like HIM! It is only by my admission that I fall short, there is nothing I can do to make Him love me, He just does. By admitting my own weaknesses, can I understand that in my humility, it is then that He can actually do something with me, with my life. When I think I can fix myself, redeem myself, restore myself into relationship with Him, I get no where. When I understand that He took on my guilt and my shame and my sins, nailed them to the cross so I could have a relationship with Him, it is only then that I am redeemed...
Redeemed is taking what once was, blemished, scarred, and being transformed into something new. Old habits are replaced with new ones. Old ways of thinking are replaced with thoughts of benefitting the well being of others, not my own interests. Sometimes it isn't a quick fix. Sometimes it is a lifelong journey.
Redeemed is what I am. Redeemed is not being perfect, it is realizing where I came from and where I am going. Please be patient with those on the journey, please be patient with me!
