When Easter Got Personal
Its that time of year when Christians pay extra close attention to the life of Jesus. Its the 'Holy Week'. For so much of my life this was simply at time of routine observance. Like all good Christian kids, I grew up hearing the crucifixion and resurrection stories and observing the day as a special day. However, five years ago this observance took on new meaning for me. Its when it became personal. I realized the depth of Christ's suffering and, most importantly, that I had played a role in all of it. I was 21 years old. I was wrestling with the extent of God's forgiveness. I was tortured by the fact that I had willingly, even blatantly, chosen sin over the biblical values I had been taught growing up. Although I knew Jesus had died for those sins, I somehow couldn't rest with that. Because even while I was sinning, I knew He had died for me and I had chosen to sin based on the knowledge that I could be forgiven someday. Basically, I had used His very death as...