You may have heard the story where Jesus speaks to a woman at a well. He asks her for water and by speaking to her, He sends the message that God loves everyone, no matter what their culture, their beliefs, their mistakes, He loves everyone. I read a quote the other week that said “There is nothing that you can do to stop God from loving you”, and I find great peace in knowing there isn’t anything I can do that will stop God from loving me.

But back to the story, the woman at the well had arrived at a time when she knew no one else would be there, she was ashamed and was trying to avoid others because of the things she had done, and then she met Jesus.

While the woman was speaking to Jesus he discovered that she has made one or two mistakes in her life, at the conclusion of her interaction with Jesus, she runs out into the town and tells anyone she can find about the man she met. Now these people knew her, they knew what she had done, but they also knew that up until this point she was ashamed, she was hiding from those around her, when she told the story of her time with Jesus, the others could already see the change in her life, they could already see that God was making a change, and they wanted to find out more, to find out how this “man” had been able to change with woman from being ashamed of her past, to boasting about it, so that people could see what Jesus had done. 

John 4:39 tells us about the effect of her telling her story, “And many Samaritans (people who lived in Samaria, where this story took place) of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified”.

I want to encourage you that your testimony matters, that your story and the things God has done in your life, they matter, and they can make a difference. And the best part is that we don’t need to be ashamed of the mistakes we have made, we don’t need to worry about what other people think, because you know that the God of the universe cares about you, loves you and has forgiven you, so it doesn’t matter what people here think. After all, I’m more inclined to trust the God who created the universe and lives a perfect life, over another human who has also made mistakes.

2 Corinthians 12:9 talks about God’s grace being sufficient, and then because of this Paul (who we spoke about last week) says, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (NLT)

It excites me that even though we make mistakes and do the wrong thing, God can use that to speak to other people and to show how amazing His love is to those around us.

This week, I want to encourage you not to be ashamed of your past, but to boast, to share with others the change God has had in your life.

Hope Born - Chaplain