Even in You
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. -1 Peter 1: 8-9 (NIV)
Did you ever do something really horrible? Did you ever hurt the person you love most in the world? Maybe you didn’t even know you were doing it, but once you realized it, deep down inside you began tearing yourself apart. Have you ever felt like you were a monster? How could you? What were you thinking? What kind of human being does such things? How can one person be so blind? So ignorant? How can you let down the most important person to you on God’s green Earth?
Every life is sprinkled with little dabs of guilt. Some of us are littered with infinite wads of guilt, cluttering every corner of our hearts. What then? How does one live with one’s self after causing so much pain and suffering to another human being? Is it the end of the line?
Psychologists believe that telling children they are a “good girl” or a “bad girl” can be very damaging to the child. Once she hears what “brand” of child she is, she becomes resigned to the fact. Rather, we should talk about the behaviors as good or bad, or decisions as poor or excellent. It’s not the child that is good or bad. In fact, it’s not even healthy to tell a child she is smart or creative. Talk about individual behaviors. If a child thinks she is “the smart one,” she won’t realize that success comes from hard work and perseverance–just simply being smart. Compliment how hard she worked. Compliment the amount of thought she put into the task. A child needs to learn that things she can control can lead to success, not simply inborn intelligence.
Are we much more than children? No matter how old we are, we still need everything that a child needs. We are still easily persuaded that we are the good boy or the bad boy, the smart one or the dumb. If you’ve not done just right, if you’ve screwed up, if you’ve hurt someone you love or taken more than you’ve given, it is easy to convince yourself that you are bad. That you are not “good enough.” It’s easy to punish yourself. Some do it for a lifetime.
Yet we go to church and hear our Pastors tell us that there is a little bit of God in us. God created us, and every time someone creates something, a little bit of that person is deposited in the creation. A painter’s painting contains a little bit of him or her. A writer’s story contains a lot a bit of him or her. The same with an architect, a dancer, a poet, or an actor. Even your own children that you created are speckled with little bits of you–physically, intellectually, and emotionally. So if God created YOU, there is some of God in YOU!
Hard to believe when you’ve just hurt the most important person in your life, isn’t it? Hard to believe it when you’ve made mistakes that ruin the best part of your life, isn’t it? Hard to believe it when you’ve failed, isn’t it? How can something as beautiful as God live in a broken vessel as ugly as you feel.
Well, that is faith. Whether you’re reading this in a sad state of guilt, in a place of darkness, even if you’re reading this in prison for a crime you regret, you too have a little piece of God in you. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. There is good in you. There is light. And it can shine again.
A very wise person, one who I care a great deal about, often reminds me “There is a way to be good again.” And there is. Because you are a living, breathing, imperfect but redeemable vessel of God. He’s in there. He’s part of you. You are partly divine. Today’s scripture, on the surface, might seem to be telling you simply that you should believe God exists even if you can’t see Him. But it’s also telling us that God exists every where whether you see him there or not.
Even in you. Even when you haven’t done just right.
I think Jars of Clay put it best in the song “Boys (Lesson One)”:
Not to undermine the consequence
But you are not what you do
And when you need it most
I have a hundred reasons why I love you.
No matter what you’ve done, God is still in you. He sent His Son to die on the cross to redeem even you. He still loves you. And no matter what you’ve done, I love you too.
And, yes, I am talking to myself.
Good bless!
The Road to Damascus 
Beautiful post. Keep your head up and your heart open. There is a way to be good again.