DAY 18

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. - 1 Corinthians 15:9-10.

Ever have a bad hair day? Some people are more prone than others are. I can’t just jump out of bed in the mornings and take off because if I did people would be laughing at my hair. It has just enough curl and the right texture to make it always unruly in the mornings. Now I know the reason I try to have my hair looking presentable before I leave the house. According to a study conducted my Marianne LaFrance, a Yale Psychology professor, a person’s self-esteem is reduced on those bad hair days. It was found on those days that people felt less smart, less capable, more embarrassed and less sociable. Surprisingly it was found that men felt even less smart, and less capable than women on bad hair days.

It seems silly that our hair can affect our lives in such a powerful way. Just because our hair is out of place doesn’t mean we are really less intelligent or less capable than before. It is silly too when we do the same thing with other things in our lives. The apostle Paul could have been beating himself up the remainder of his life because he persecuted the church prior to his salvation. Because of that Paul said he was the least of the apostles. Paul could have just wallowed in a gigantic pity party for the remainder of his years. But Paul said to himself, “by the grace of God I am what I am.”

Don’t let what has happened in the past prevent you from being what God would have you to be now. Yes, you may have had problems with an addiction, or even done some terrible thing but nothing is beyond the reach of the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. You are what you are and God loves you so much that His Son went to the cross for you. We have to go beyond the pity parties and the bad hair days. We are what we are and God loves us. Paul understood and that is why he was able to labor through the grace of God “more abundantly than they all (the other apostles).” God would have you and I to do the same.