The most important thing you need to hear if you feel like you don't deserve a second chance

When you open Instagram or TikTok, what do you see? Smiles, muscles, motivational quotes, perfect relationships, even more perfect breakfasts. The world today is full of filters. Not only the colorful ones in the photos, but also the ones we put on our faces when we walk among people. We're playing that we're cool. That we have things under control. That we know what we're doing. But what if it's all just a game? What if the truth is elsewhere? What if this is what keeps us away from God?

This isn't another article about faith for “proper” Christians. This is an invitation for those who feel broken. They're inadequate. I'm tired. For those who may have tried faith, but quickly found that they didn't “fit in” with it. Or for those who never started because they felt they had to be someone better first.

It's not true. And that's what this is all about.

If you fail, what do you do?

In our world, it's easy to exchange things. When something breaks, we don't glue it. Let's throw it out. We buy new ones. Relationship not working? Break up. Friendships hurt? Don't forgive — cut off contact. Do you feel empty? Change the environment, style, partner, brand. Restart.

But what if you break yourself?

What if you carry cracks in you that no one else can see? You failed. You've let yourself down, maybe even the people around you. Something hurt you. Something changed you. Maybe you call yourself a “broken piece” that's not worth much anymore. And at this moment comes the biggest lie: “God doesn't want you anymore. You're not good enough. “

But... that's not who God is.

God is not a businessman who will judge you by status and evaluate if you still pay yourself off. He is the Father. The one that doesn't throw away. Who doesn't judge by looks. Which doesn't measure your worth by your past.

Your mistakes do not deter Him. They attract Him.

The God Who Screams Because He Loves

Maybe you have an image of God in your head that is strict. He's tough. Punishing. Maybe someone described him that way to you, maybe you imagined him that way according to the church you knew. But then comes a story like the one in the sermon — the story of a teacher who loved children, but in a moment of danger began to scream. Not because she lost her temper. But because she wanted to save their lives. It was love -- only in a form that children didn't recognize at the time.

Even God sometimes “screams”. Not because he's angry. But because they see what we don't. They see where we're headed. They see what awaits us. And because he doesn't want us to burn, he acts differently than we would expect.

The Old Testament is full of dramas. Storms, earthquakes, commandments, punishments. But these were all means. The path to the goal. And that goal came in the person of Jesus. No more masks. No more masquerading. Only the merciful face of God who sits with sinners, heals the broken and weeps over the city that rejected Him.

That's the real God.

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Obedience without fear? Yes, it goes

For a lot of people, faith is a bogeyman. They think they have to “do the right things” or God will get mad at them. It's like Christianity is a points game: the more rules you follow, the better chance of heaven.

But Jesus speaks differently. He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” He does not say, “Keep the commandments to deserve me.” He builds a relationship on love. On trust. Not on fear.

Fear can be a start. But it's not a place to settle.

Maybe you grew up in a faith that guided you through guilt. Maybe you've heard more about sin than hope. But you can hear something else today: that God is not your controller. He is someone who loves you even in the fall -- and it is in that fall that he gives you a hand.

A relationship that does not leave

Today's culture tells us that when a relationship hurts, run. God says: when a relationship hurts, I stay.

When Adam turned against God, God could “exchange” him. He could have said, “I'll try it with someone else.” But he didn't. He knew how much it would cost to repair. He knew it would cost His Son. And yet he did.

Because He does not exchange. He remains.

Even if you give Him reasons to leave, He does not take them.

That's real love. Not the one from Instagram. Not the one that only says “I love you” when everything works. But the one that holds you even when you're broken, cracked, tired, at the bottom.

How to be real?

To be real is to admit to yourself that you are not perfect. Stop pretending you're in control of things. Stop wearing filters in front of God and in front of people. And start living truthfully.

It doesn't mean being flawless. It means being real.

Being real is the beginning of a relationship with God who doesn't want you for what you can be, but what are you now.

Maybe you have questions. Maybe you have doubts. Maybe you've never felt like God could see you. But today's your chance to take the first step. Not into religion. Not into the rules system. But into a relationship.

To a relationship where your failures are not the end. Where scars are not a disgrace. Where you can learn to love God, because He has long loved you.

And maybe for the first time you'll feel what it means to live without a filter. For real. Freely. Lovingly.