Bethany's "Movie Group" this week saw the Japanese anime film "The Colors Within." It told of an unexpected friendship between three musically inclined students, one of whom attends a Christian boarding school. As they support each other and grow in self-confidence, each finds the courage to face problems with integrity and honesty. At the end of the movie, the students' band performs a song written by one of them. Its words are profound and describe the freedom one experiences when owning up to misdeeds or admitting fault:
"Leave all your problems in yesterday's shirt pocket; today is the beginning of a new you."
The Bible reminds us again and again that we can be healed in both body and soul when we trust God. Two passages in Isaiah capture this. In Isaiah 43:25 we read, "I ... am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more." And we hear again of how Jesus died for our sins: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ... We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah Chapter 53)
Acknowledging to ourselves that we have erred is hard; confessing and apologizing to others is even more difficult. Isaiah makes it clear that no one is perfect and that God helps us when we are troubled ... including giving us the right words to say when making amends to those we have wronged.
As the song in the movie so positively proclaims, a new start is possible. And when you know God is both on your side and at your side, a "new you" is always possible.
—Cathy Betts Sapunor
“Start being brave about everything. Drive out darkness and spread light. Don’t look at your weaknesses. Realize instead that in Christ crucified you can do everything.
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