Your Past Mistakes Do Not Define Who You Are -Babatunde Olugboji
The narrative of Judah in Genesis 38 is illustrative of the fact that a fault in your family line doesn’t exclude you from divine favor.
Judah did some really horrible things, he took some steps that he shouldn’t have taken. He slept with Tamar, his daughter in law, admittedly inadvertently, and Tamar gave birth to twin boys.
Perez and his twin brother Zerah were the product of the shocking one-night stand between Tamar and Judah.
Despite the errors in the life of his parents, Perez grew up to become the head of the ruling clan in Judah, as God over-ruled the transgressions of Judah. The error of your ancestors does not preclude you from God’s glorious blessings.
The genealogy of Christ sets the grace of God upon Judah in context: “… This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram. (Mat 1:1-2)
Thus Tamar, a deceiver, a Canaanite woman, was the first of 5 women, including Ruth a foreigner, Rahab, a prostitute, who were integral to the purpose of God’s salvation in bringing the Savior into the world.
The ancestors of Christ included deceivers, half-breeds, and prostitutes. Doesn’t this tell you that your ancestry doesn’t matter in the bigger scheme of things? It is not about being born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but about having the savior in your corner.
This week I speak favor into your life, from your seed, a giant shall spring forth. A giant in business, in government, and other areas of endeavor.
The fact that God included Perez in Jesus’ family line means that the circumstances of your birth would not determine your earthly or eternal future.
This Illustrates how God loves to bring beauty out of the beast in us. God hates our sinful choices, but he makes allowance for our sins when we come back to him in repentance while promising to use those experiences for our good.
Judah sold out on his family, his faith, and his morals. Yet God cast his sins in the sea of forgetfulness. Tamar was meant to be known as a conniver who conned her father-in-law, but God changed her story.
Your past mistakes do not define who you are, your future is not a function of your past. You might be like Judah – deliberate in the rebellion. You may be like Tamar, making decisions out of desperation. Maybe you’ve had immoral relationships, cheated on your spouse, had a failed marriage, did a couple of abortions, committed a crime, forged papers, lied against your co-worker, or even led a double life. God that wiped out Judah’s errors, is still available to help change your story.
Don’t listen to the devil saying your situation is too terrible, your sins are too egregious, that you have already been ruled out of God’s grace. The devil is a liar, a deceiver, and an accuser.
God is a God of grace. This week, his grace shall shine forth in your life.
Have a great week.
Kingdom Dynamics, a weekly column written by Dr. Babatunde Olugboji, the President, Kingdom House, a non-profit organization in New Jersey, USA.
