Do you have a scarlet letter?

Do you have a scarlet letter on? Are others seeing it or just you? At times we seem to place them there ourselves out of shame. Others who place them there are out of judgement. We all have pasts. We can chose to let go, or we can chose to hang on to them and the hurt that comes with them. We can walk into a church and feel love or we can see on the faces of others what we think is judgement. People like to throw stones, and those stones hurt. But those who are ready to judge must too be ready to be judged. "So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them,"He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." John 8:7 "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Matthew 7:1-2 We must lay down our pasts and begin a new life with Jesus. As He lives in us, we are new creatures, we are made new. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 When we become new creatures, when we accept Christ as our Savior we are washed clean, we are pure in His name. "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18 We cannot change others, we can only change ourselves. We cannot change how others think or feel, but we can change how we think and feel. With Christ Jesus living in us, we are made new, we are His children, and His love for us is great. If others cannot forget a past, for if they see a scarlet letter that is not our concern. Our concern is our relationship with Christ. Many times christians are the first to judge others, by their pasts, by the way they look, who they are, or where they came from. To that I say shame on us for judging another when we do not know their life, their circumstances or what burdens have been layed on their hearts. I remember when I first attended church. I thought I shouldn't be here, I am not good enough to be in the house of God. I can never be like these sitting here infront and behind me. What wrong notions those are to have. Church is for sinners, it is for the sick. You don't bring well people to a hospital, you bring the sick. The same is at church, it is for the sinners, the sick, those who are need of the same forgiveness of the Savior who shows no partiality to anyone. Sweet child it is time to take off that scarlet letter. Its time to forgive yourself and its time to accept God's forgiveness. Its time to begin a new life with Him, surrounded by His love and grace. For me, my past is full of mistakes, full of hurt, and little by little I will share. Its hard to share, but I believe the more we share the more we can touch others and no one feels as though they are the only ones who feel the pain. When I was nineteen I was raped by someone close to me. I felt dirty and I felt it was my fault. I should have known better than to be in that position. It took me years to forgive myself and let the pain go, but is was Christ and a loving husband to help me see it wasn't my fault at all, and I wasn't dirty. Today, yes at times I still pick up the pain, but I quickly remember who God is, and I call out to Him and He embraces me with His love and comfort. I will forever be touched by the pain of being raped, but I know I'm not alone and there are others out there carrying a scarlet letter that we don't have to. Come to Jesus, let Him love you, let Him help you forgive not only yourself, but the ones who have hurt you along the way. God is holy, God is good, and although we don't deserve His love, He gives it freely to those seeking Him. Open your heart today, release the pain, release all your holding on to and let God wash over you. Go and jump in the water Jesus has for you. Dive in and be refreshed by His everlasting grace and mercy. Its time for you to be loved by the Savior who has been waiting on you. Don't hold back, go, allow Him to bring healing to you like you have never felt before..