The Opening Statement

A Discussion of Life, God, and Our Natural Order

Redemption

As a child, I remember getting caught in mischief and waiting for my dad to come home with his belt. Sometimes the waiting was worse than the punishment itself. I can barely recall the crying or the begging, but I distinctly remember the sense of peace that followed once it was over.

It always ended the same way. He would tell me that he loved me and that he believed in me.

That lesson stayed with me. In business and in life, I learned that even when discipline is necessary, we must leave people whole. We must give them a way out—and a way up. This is how I believe God treats us, His children.

What Redemption Means

When thinking about redemption, I offer this:

• You are not who you used to be.
• You are not who you aspire to be.
• You are who stands before God at this very moment.

Pause a moment…

Consider each of these again, slowly.

• You have no control over who you used to be.
• You have some control over who you want to be.
• But you have full control over who you are at this very moment.

This moment matters.

You can change who you are right now—before another tick comes off the clock. You can become who you want to be, starting now. With every tick that follows, your actions will confirm it.

By the grace of God, transformation does not take a lifetime. It can happen in seconds.

We do not need intermediaries. We do not need rituals or magic dust. We only need a quiet place and an honest conversation with God.

There is no script. If we sincerely confess that we have fallen short, God already knows our heart. He sees the good even when we struggle to see it ourselves.

Guilt, Regret, and Shame

This is a topic that deserves far more attention than we can give it here, but its importance cannot be overstated.

Acting outside our moral beliefs creates internal conflict. Guilt appears first, often followed by regret and eventually shame. Left unresolved, these conflicts can erode our emotional and spiritual well-being.

Guilt, however, is not the enemy.

The feeling of guilt is evidence of God’s presence within us. It serves as a deterrent, not as condemnation. Deterrence does not eliminate free will, and good does not mean perfect.

As powerful as guilt, regret, and shame can be, redemption is more powerful still.

It Begins with You

If you only remember one thing from this entire discussion, this should be it:

• You must accept yourself—not as compared to others, not as you wish you were, but as you are right now.
• You must forgive yourself as you would your closest friend.
• You must love yourself as you are, not as a future version of yourself.
• You cannot give to others what you do not have. Respect for others begins with respect for yourself.

Find your quiet place. Forgive yourself. Then turn it over to God.

Know this: it is not your deeds that honor Him, but the goodness of your heart. Trust that He will cleanse you of the burdens you carry—as you would for your own child.

Before the next second passes, you can be returned—wiser and lighter—to your natural order.

Societal Redemption

What we have discussed to this point has been redemption afforded by God and ourselves. The same rules do not always apply to others whom our actions may have harmed. We must respect and accept the consequences imposed by society.

We must also accept that others may not be quick to forgive and may never forget. We must respect those consequences. But we must not allow others to influence the peace within ourselves and with God. Respect cannot be earned back without self-respect.

Questions People Ask

A common question: Is there any behavior or sin that is not forgivable?

I believe the question is ours, not God’s, to answer. Is there a sin that we are not willing to freely and sincerely accept the responsibility and societal consequences for? Is there a sin that we cannot forgive ourselves for?

Another question often follows: If everything can be forgiven, what prevents people from behaving worse?

The answer is experience.

The cycle of harmful behavior is not broken by fear of punishment, but by realizing that spiritual fulfillment far outweighs temporary pleasure. Sin may offer momentary satisfaction, but it is quickly followed by guilt, regret, and shame.

God’s patience is greater than our failures. Giving up is a weakness of man—not of God. The God I know would want us dusted off, cleaned up, and back in the workforce. There is more good to be done. All of society is counting on our help. We can’t quit.