Chosen Despite Our Failings - Wholly Loved - Dec. 16

Chosen Despite Our Failings
By Jennifer Slattery

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” Ephesians 1:4

There are ample reasons I should be disqualified for Christian service. There are days I feel much more like a liability, the weakest member on God’s team, rather than the chosen, radiant daughter Scripture says I am.

Because honestly, my tiara’s chipped, my hair’s frizzed, and somewhere between the elegant carriage and the ball, I’ve lost my glittery slipper. What a sight I must make!

Some might offer me a comb and un-scuffed shoes, but fancy clothes can’t fix my real ugliness—the pride and selfishness lurking in my heart. Only Jesus can clean up that kind of mess, and He’s working on it! I know this, but often my growth seems so slow going.

On those days when sin seems to be winning and my ugliness is revealed like a parade banner, I want to say, “See, Jesus? Don’t you see who I really am? All the ways I fall short, again and again, of the holy and blameless child You long for me to be?” There are times I want to ask, “Do you regret choosing me now, Lord?”

But Ephesians 1:4 tells me I was selected before I took my first breath, before I committed my first sin, or my twenty-first. And God knew it all, because He knows all. He chose me, knowing exactly what that would mean and what it would cost. More than that, He knows where He longs to take me, and His power is sufficient for my transformation.

He’s got the road all mapped out and my destination is sure. Though my sin repels Him, it also compelled Him—to die, that one day I might be free, truly holy and blameless in His sight.

Jennifer Slattery is a writer, editor, speaker, and the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries. She writes for Crosswalk, is the author of eight contemporary novels, and helped write Wholly Loved’s Bible study based on the life of Sarai (Gen. 12-23) titled Becoming His Princess, releasing in the spring/summer of 2019. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall outings with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit her online at jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com.

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