When I went to my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, I dreaded it up to the moment I was given the opportunity to introduce myself. “Hi, my name is…and I’m an alcoholic.”
The folks in the room responded with the most genuine and compassionate greeting I have ever been open enough to receive. I can remember breaking into tears as I sat in awe. That was the moment I felt God’s unconditional love for the first time – the forgiveness revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was for me.
This ever-new feeling of inclusion and acceptance in the unconditional love and grace of God continues to reform me. With this newfound acceptance, God is able to work in and through me in ways I could have never imagined. I am able to speak freely with folks I meet about what God’s love has done for me and where I see God moving in the world, in hopes that they, too, may see.
This message is excerpted from “Reformed” by Anonymous in the January/February 2017 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Agnes, martyr, c. 304.
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