Pearls from Sand

All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17a).

Imagine all the grains of sand that exist in the world. Then, imagine that these represent the sins of people. There are many of them, and they grow and accumulate over time as erosion takes place, but remember that pearls first begin as grains of sand. From a mollusk trying to get rid of an irritant, something beautiful forms.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

God is in the business of making something beautiful out of the insignificant, undesirable, or annoying. He can take our mistakes and bring good from them when we turn to Him in repentance. When God looks at sinners, he sees the possibilities, the pearls they could be. Christians too often look at sinners with judgment and see trouble-causing grains of sand. Even if a sinner repents and comes to know Christ, he may still be considered that irritating grain of sand instead of the pearl he's becoming.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus taught that we are to be kind and loving. When we do this, we come alongside God to help form pearls. Don't lock people into their past mistakes. Accept that God is in the business of changing people, of making pearls out of grains of sand. 

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