Why God Loves Do-Overs, Part 2

Many people refuse a fresh start with God because they feel they are not worthy. Well, they’re partly right. We certainly are not worthy of receiving a do-over from God. Fortunately, it’s not about us. Instead, it’s all about the graciousness of God. Here are four reasons why God loves do-overs.

• We give God special delight. God’s love is unconditional, excessive, extreme and outrageous. Because God loves us and is pleased with us, He desires to enter into and take on our pain and suffering. He is not angry with us, but is pleased with what he sees (John 15:9, Ephesians 3:17-19).

• We couldn’t earn and didn’t deserve a do-over. When we were sunk in our own sin, God put his arms around us and accepted us “as is” – with no conditions. We were not accepted because of anything righteous we did, but only because of His unmerited grace (Luke 15:11-27).

• God keeps his word. God does not lie and will not deceive us (Numbers 23:19). He promised to give us a fresh start and he will follow through (2 Corinthians 5:17). His promises apply to even the most notorious sinner. God’s favor is not conditioned by our behavior but on our relationship with him (1 Timothy 1:15).

• God wants us to move on. Our heavenly father is compassionately calling us to our potential and destiny. He is calling us from our past, sin and pain to a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). We must forget what lies behind and press on toward the joy that is ahead. God calls us out of our cycle of rejection and across his bridge of acceptance. He leads us to a path of restoration and a higher way of living, “a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10b).

Why God Loves Do-Overs, Part 1

This is an excerpt from Dan's forthcoming book, "God Loves Do-Overs."

God's busy. This much we can agree on.

He's got a universe to run, after all.

The vastness of his creation and the mystery of his ways might lead us to think that God doesn't have time for us spiritual slackers, sinners and misfits. Three strikes and you're out, right?

Wrong. You are in for a pleasant surprise.
Our God loves do-overs because he loves you.
What would make the sovereign God of the universe willing to give you a second, third or 70th chance? Well, where do I start? Let's begin with three reasons.

God longs to be gracious to us. Do-overs are a blessing, a compassionate gift from God. Every day can be the beginning of the rest of our lives. As long as we can breathe, as long as we can see another sunrise, we can have a fresh start (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God anticipated our unmet need. We are not an accident or a mistake. God did not say "oops!" with our life. In his sovereignty, God knew we would need divine help to accomplish his unique plan for our lives (Romans 8:28-30).

We are God's best. We are the objects of His affection. Romans 8:38-39 tells us that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."