I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. 

In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.

Oh, 

how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 1:12-14 NLT

We all have a past.

We've all done things, thought things, that now are not paths that we would choose. 

For Paul it was 2 things: ignorance and unbelief.

It could be the actions and influences of others, the relentless messages and promptings of our culture, the people around us, our own desires, some combination of these things. 

Change is possible.

Change is possible.

For Paul faith and love from Jesus changed him.

And that faith, that love, changes us too. 

Changes our heart towards God, towards others, towards ourselves. 

That inner critic gets to sit down. 

Those fears get to take a back seat.

That pleasing others, that worry about what others might think, can be allowed to fade.

Change is possible because we are in fact Beloved.

#letters

#lettertoTimothy

#changeispossible 

#youareBeloved