“Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say that I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan. And I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am.”
- John Newton
saw this quote over at Of First Importance
Reminds me of the Brandon Heath song:
“I wish you could see me now
I wish I could show you how
I’m not who I was
I used to be mad at you
A little on the hurt side too
But I’m not who I was ”
While my head understands on paper, so to speak, God’s all-encompassing forgiveness, my heart still struggles with wanting to go back and show people I’ve hurt or done dumb, inconsiderate things to that I’ve changed, that God changed me.
It’s a wonderfully encouraging quote Laurel. By His grace, I pray I will some day be so much more.
THANK GOD!!! No really. Thanks be to God for his changing me. I’m a mess that can only be cleaned and straightened by his hands.
That is such an interesting quote and yet very profound. Thank you for sharing it with us to read.