Today, I happened to go back and read a post on Brian Main's blog (one of my close pastor friends and my assistant coach in Upward!!)

This post was so good and so relevant, so I decided to copy and paste here.

By the way, this post was his last - from last June - which also made me feel good! :)

here it is:

I've asked this question to myself and to my kids: Would you rather be perfect or forgiven? My natural instinct is to prefer to be perfect. I feel better about myself when I am perfect - when I don't make any mistakes (at least not any that people know about). But I am not perfect. And my failures frustrate me. But I realized a while back that my failures bring me an opportunity to experience something better than being perfect - being forgiven. You see, if I was perfect, people would probably always treat me okay - just because they'd have no reason not to. But when people treat me well when they have a reason not to - when they forgive me - then I know I am loved. And, when I stop and think about it, I would rather be loved and know it than be perfect and wonder if anyone really loves me. Would I rather be perfect or forgiven? I thank God that, in His wisdom, He did not make me perfect. Because as an imperfect person I have the opportunity to know that I am loved - by other people, and most of all by God.


Another way for God to remind us that even our sin is part of God's sanctifying process. I am reminded of a quote that says "till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet". For those of us who know our sin well and have tasted just how bitter it is...Christ is becoming sweeter and sweeter!