Do not remember the sins of my youth

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26).

This has always been one of my favorite verses, for two reasons:
1-I have always felt that I am so distant from people, even some family and friends (which really comes down to a self-centered self-esteem, which needs to be more christ-centered!). This reminds me that God is promising to unify us and take away any feelings of loneliness and insufficiency. And he has; Jesus took away the separation between jews and gentiles, the poor and the rich, the educated and the non-educated. Part of the reason I felt so welcomed at Cornerstone was because I really believe that Christ unifies all of us, regardless of what our backgrounds are. It is my prayer that we don't forget that, and keep our hearts open to brothers and sisters in need.

2-I used to always have such anger and hatred towards some people, and looking back I can't help but be disgusted by how I used to think. Even now I feel at times there is poison in my heart, and I long for God to remove it. I know that the more humble I become, the less room for anger and jealousy there is. However, I don't have the sheer hatred towards people or all consuming jealousy that I once had, and that is something I never want to forget, or take for granted. We need Jesus to consume every shadow in our heart, so darkness has no place left to reside!