Hope

"...For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

-Matthew 9:13

This verse gives hope. It always seems like there's a checklist of things we must do and do well to follow God. The need to be perfect in every way. The need to get rid of any sin before God can use them. They will always feel inadequate. We will never be perfect, but God uses us anyway. This is hope.

God doesn't call us to strive only for perfection. He knows we are imperfect. We will never be holy like he is. Our focus shouldn't be on how perfect we should be for God. Our focus should be on loving God, talking to him, worshiping him, and being his disciples. The disciples were some of the most imperfect people, but he used them for great things. He didn't call people who didn't need his grace and were perfect, he called the sinners.They were never righteous or deserving of grace, but Jesus took them anyway.

I always wondered why God used the sinners. I think maybe he did it to prove a point. To show off how real this was. How this changed people. If he used already righteous people, he wouldn't make a very big statement. If he used the least likely of people and they did great things, a miracle took place. 

Don't think you have to get your life in order to finally come to God. God wants you just as you are. He loves you despite your flaws. He gave us this hope, so we get the wonderful opportunity to serve him. He can use this mess of a life and turn it around for good. You're not too far gone for God. He can use you just as you are.