Embrace Sin... huh???

Last night I saw an amazing woman on a talk show... and I froze... she was beautifully well-spoken, and she shared from her heart, with great conviction of all that God had done... not just for her, but for all of us!

Thanks be to God
for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:15

Then her name flashed on the screen... Liz Curtis Higgs. Wow! I nearly fell over, for she is one of my favourite authors. Her fiction is riviting, moving, and powerful... and her non-fiction is inspiring and challenging. Any one who can write a book called "Bad Girls of the Bible" demands attention. Her inspiration was her own life, being a "bad girl" herself. Yet in her adult life, God reached her... "in a pit of despair" she says on her website. Her real life story is just as moving as her writing... read more about her here: http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/whoisliz.htm

I was floored as she was speaking. Her new book is titled "Embrace Grace" and on the show, she shared from one of the chapters called "Embrace Sin." ACK!!! My jaw nearly dropped to the floor! I couldn't understand such an idea... are we not to put "...aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls." (james 1:21) ???

She clarified...

We must embrace our sin before we can let go of it. We have to own up to it, so to speak. We have to acknowledge the areas of our lives that are contrary to God's ways. She shared about her father who was a good man... but in his goodness, he was never able to embrace his sin, even to his dying day... he could never acknowledge his sin. I understood... how often we compare ourselves to others... I'm not as bad as so-and-so... I've never done (fill in the blank), I'm not so bad... but even our very best falls so short of God. Even on my best day of loving my husband and kids, my neighbours, it all falls short... His word says our righteousness is like rags placed before Him. That's a tough pill to swallow for most.

He is not a God who is waiting for us to finally fess up so that He can shame us and command us to grovel before Him... He is waiting so that He can wipe our sin away, and draw us close to His heart, in an all-encompassing embrace which fills us more deeply than we could have ever dreamt possible. It's about finding the heart's true home... with our Maker.

When we embrace our sin, we are embraced by our Loving God.

Click here for a link to read more about Liz's book, Embrace Grace, and to the whole first chapter. http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/waterbrook/Embrace/Embrace%20Grace.htm