I Found Love: Raw Stories of Real People Finding LoveSample

Becoming second means recognizing that God is first. It means believing and trusting in Jesus and accepting who he is and what he did. The stories of I am Second illustrate the peace, purpose, and freedom that many people experienced when they made the decision to be second. But the thread that holds each of these stories together is not so much what they got out of their experiences but where they began.

They each began by understanding they were broken people. They each believed they were sinners. Nobody escapes the weaknesses of being human. No one is without failures and mistakes, pride or selfishness. Everyone fails to love as they should.

These sins or failures separate people from God. They also bring a punishment. According to Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.” Because of sin, everyone will face judgment when they die. “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”

God does not judge whether someone did more right than wrong. Perfection is the standard. Sin at any level, any amount of sin, makes one guilty. Even in the present-day world, a person who commits a crime is not judged by whether he has done more good than he has wrong. He is judged by whether or not he committed the crime.

Those who depend on their own good works are destined to spend eternity separated from God in hell. But God offers forgiveness for all these sins. He offers forgiveness through faith in Jesus.

It starts with an admission of guilt, a change of mind, a willingness to start going God’s way instead of going our own way. It involves admitting we are full of sin and in desperate need of help. But it is not just any help we must look for, but Jesus’ help. It is Jesus we need. It is his message and sacrifice that we must accept and believe to experience forgiveness and a relationship with God. We will be saved from our own desperation by faith in the God of the Bible and in his Son Jesus.