Jane stared into space contemplating whether or not she still deserved the Lord’s love when she’d made mistake after mistake. Had she gone too far to ever come back? So she distanced herself from God. 

“He probably wouldn’t want anything to do with someone like me,” she thought. “God loved me, but I’m sure I’ve disappointed him… So what’s the use?” Jane’s not the only person to think they’re no longer worthy of heaven’s love because they made a mistake or even a series of mistakes. 

We all have weaknesses. We all make mistakes. And sometimes it’s hard not to wonder if our weaknesses and mistakes make us worth less as a person or less deserving of love. Often, the persistent thought tugging at the back of our minds is that our mistakes define us. But the truth is, they actually refine us.

Understanding Who We Really Are

One of the many reasons we may drift away from our divine identity is that we simply don’t know it. Knowing our divine nature and our absolute worth can help us understand and overcome even the heaviest challenges we face.

What is divine identity? Divine means of, from, or like God. Since we are children of heavenly parents, this makes us the sons and daughters of The King of all kings. You and I are children of God.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared,

“You are sons and daughters of the greatest, most glorious being in the universe…You are no ordinary beings. You are glorious and eternal. If only we understood who we are and what is in store for us, our hearts would overflow with such gratitude and happiness that it would enlighten even the darkest sorrows with the light and love of God.”

Of course, there will be times when we hear voices telling us that we are foolish to believe that we are divine or special, trying to convince us that we are worthless, ugly, good for nothing, talentless, or that we are our mistakes. But may we all remember that our mistakes and weaknesses do not define who we are.

Knowing Who You are Can Help You Overcome Sin and Guilt

The Lord rejoices when we repent and strive to avoid repeating our sins intentionally. Repentance brings us closer to Him since and helps us know Him better and deeper. Sins cause us deep and heavy feelings of burden, so God has given us a way to remove this burden, and that is why repentance is a joyous process. He gave us a way to be cleansed from our sins because He loves us. And we must be cleansed from our sins so we can go back to His presence.

If you have committed mistakes, big or small, Satan tries to make you feel worthless. You may feel that because you have not met your goals or other people’s expectations, that you’re not as good as others around you. You may have compared yourself to others who look like they are doing “better” in life. You may have even felt that God doesn’t love you anymore or has forgotten about you because of the sin you’ve committed. Don’t let these mistakes and weaknesses keep you from coming to Christ, think that you are not good enough for Him, or think that His love is only for those who have not sinned.

Jesus Christ did not die for perfect people; He did not sacrifice His life for those who have it all figured out. He did not come to earth and preach for the ones who knew it all. Because none of us are perfect, have it all figured out, or know it all, no matter what it looks like on the outside. He came here for all of us who’ve sinned, regardless of the gravity of the sin, for all of us who have weaknesses, for all of us who don’t have it figured out or who are struggling. He did all of that because you are of great worth to Him! 

There is the definite truth that your worth does not rely on whether you’ve done great things in life or not. It does not rely on the mistakes or good things you’ve done. In the eyes of our Almighty God, your worth is the same.

To Him, you are always worth loving, worth forgiving, and worth saving! You will always have that divine identity in you.

If your sins ever feel like heavy burdens, or if you’ve drifted away from God because of the mistakes you’ve made, this does not mean that God loves you less. There will always be hope for you to come to Him and be forgiven. He will always welcome you back with arms wide open, ready to embrace you with warmth and love, because you are His beloved precious child.