Through His Grace Alone

The Blessing of Being Caught in Sin

February 23rd, 2025

Often times, people view others discovering their sins as bad thing. It’s uncomfortable, it points out our flaws. More so, it hurts our pride, and changes the way people view you. However, when you’re on the other side of things and reflecting on past actions, so much gratitude can be felt. Gratitude that there are people who love you enough to point out the sins you are blind to or flat out ignore because it’s too messy to deal with.

It’s so easy to get so stuck in sin, that we think that there’s no possible way out. And what that really translates to is, there’s no easy, mess-free way out of things. Because of this, we let those “small” habits snow ball into major sin issues, that if left to us alone, would absolutely ruin us. But how lucky are we, that we serve a Gracious God, who puts people in our lives who care about us enough to call us out. By God’s grace, we have parents who discipline us, and a family who stands by your side and keeps you accountable. We have church communities, where even people who don’t know what is going on in your life can be the most encouraging. We have friends who know our struggles and yet love us despite them, and pray with and for us. (And if you don’t have these sorts of friends, I would highly recommend taking the initiative to start conversations about faith and begin actively praying for one another)

In my personal experience, being caught in sin (big or small) felt like my world was falling apart. I was frustrated with my parents because “they just didn’t understand”. Every cliché excuse for sin, I used. But in reality, people discovering my sin was the most freeing moment of my life. The weight of the guilt and shame that I was carrying around was suddenly lifted off my shoulders. While some actions come with very serious consequences, that if I am being completely honest were very much needed, I learned about myself and through the people who loved me, I saw the Grace of God first hand. While my immediate response wasn’t “wow, look at how gracious our God is” or “goodness my parents and this community love me so much”, looking back it was so critical to who I am now, and what shaped my faith and life now.

So even when you’re world seems like it’s falling apart, everyone is pointing out your flaws, and your reputation is inevitably damaged by your mistakes- know that it is by God’s Grace that he is bringing you back to himself and saving your soul. Thinking that you won’t get back to the same place you were in your community, give thanks. You shouldn’t want to go back to the circumstances that created those habits of sin. Instead pray that God helps you avoid those situations and create better ones. Pray that God will open up your heart and mind to what honors him, not what serves ourselves best. Be encouraged by the fact that we serve a gracious and loving God, who is eager to hear our repentance and show us his love in so many different ways. He is kind, he is gracious, and he loves each and every one of us.
Introduction of the Author

January 3rd, 2025

Every person experiences God’s grace, whether they realize it or not. My goal through writing this is to show the big and small ways I’ve seen God’s grace and kindness throughout the last five years of my life, in the hopes it will help you see how God is present in your own life.

It is by God’s grace alone that I am where I am today. Without him, I would be nowhere. The fact is, without God’s grace, no one would have anything. God’s grace alone allows us to live in community with others. It allows us to love, hurt, heal, and grow. What a gift that is!

Five years ago, I entered into a way of living that was quite contradictory to how the Bible says christians ought to live. I lived for the flesh, and for immediate gratification, which led to nothing but pain and discontentment. But because of God’s grace, there were people in my life who loved me enough to call me out on my sin. Did I listen the first time? No. The second time? Also no. Even the third time around after various consequences, I still didn’t want to admit that I was living in sin. I was so blinded by my own wants, that I openly ignored God’s grace of punishment and continued to live how I wanted.

Eventually things were taken out of my hands (another sign of God’s grace), and my family moved from Florida to Louisiana. A fresh start. Except the thing about sin is, it goes where you go. But with this change, I allowed myself to start seeing the grace of God in my life. He loved me enough to let me suffer the consequences of my actions. He loved me enough to put people in my life who cared enough about me to pull me out of my sin. He let me hurt, and then he healed me.

I had the joy of witnessing first hand God’s grace and love. He put back together what my sinful nature broke. He restored community where my sin and shortcomings damaged it. So, from here on out, I will be sharing how God saved me from the depths of sin, and the joy that comes from living according to his ways. This in no way means that I don’t still struggle to see His grace some days, and in no way implies that I always follow through and live a sinless life. But it does mean that I know what some of my sin patterns are, and I blessed beyond measure to know where true forgiveness lies.

If you’ve read this far, my hope is that my testimony will not only show you how God has showed up in my life, but also show you some ways that he has showed up in yours. Whether it be sin, loss, or anything else that has you doubting the grace of God, let this serve as a reminder that He is good. He is loving. He is faithful. He is Gracious.

The Blessing of Being Caught in Sin

Introduction of the Author