
The God of Second Chances
It’s hard to bring hope to the world, but that’s what God wants us to do.
Who is Jesus? For one thing, He’s a risk taker. He entrusted the Gospel to twelve men and a prostitute, and then later He brought in Paul. Think about that. He relied on fourteen people to show the world who He is. He trusted them to remind the world about God.
They did it, too. They did it well. By the time they died, there were one million Christians. One million!
Jesus is asking us to do the same thing now. He’s entrusted His Gospel to us and has asked us to inherit the legacy of Mary and the apostles. We have to show people who Jesus is.
Jesus hung out with sinners, and He didn’t judge them. Instead He said, “I created you. So I understand you. I can see how you would sin. But I have shown you how to live, so now you can be like me! I know you’ll mess up, but I died for you. So you’re forgiven.”
It’s because of His blood that we can go to heaven. He died for us because otherwise, we wouldn’t have a shot. Without Him, we can’t live the right way. There’s too much sin in the world. There are too many things working against us. We have too many enemies. They are right next to us, telling us to live the wrong way. And sometimes, we do.
Second chances are so important. We all need one. We all need a lot of them! That’s why we turn to Jesus. We need His powerful blood. Without it, we have no hope.
That’s also why we need to evangelize. It’s our job to show others what Jesus showed us. We have to reflect Him now. People don’t really understand who He is, but without Him they have no hope, and without hope, there is no life. That’s why we need to bring Him to everyone, everywhere.
Some people have lost sight of that. Some people think that the legacy of Jesus is make sure you go to church on Sunday, hang out within four walls and a roof, and then go home.
That is not the legacy of Jesus! Jesus walked the streets! He hung out with people. He talked to them and found out what they needed. If they needed food, He fed them. If they were thirsty, He gave them something to drink. If they were sick, He healed them. If their hearts were broken, He loved on them.
This is what He is asking us to do. He knows how hard it is, so He showed us how to live. Then He gave us a second chance. He gives us a world of second chances! And He asks us to make sure that the world understands.
He says, “You’re going to need a lot of forgiveness because you’re going to mess up — a lot! You’re going to need my blood, because you are going to tank it. All the time.”
He showed us how to live, and now we need to live like Him. We need to forgive. We need to give each other second chances.
We need to do this. We need bring this to our relationships. We need to bring this to the church.
This is grace, and we need to bring it to the world.

I am the author of To Stir a Movement: Life, Justice, and Major League Baseball (2013), and my second book is in the works. Visit my Huffington Post page here. I blog here. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter: @JeremyAffeldt.
