You love me while I am still sinner.

That is one of the most beautiful and profound truths of the Christian faith. Here is a poem reflecting on that incredible promise.

While I Was Still

I did not come to You cleaned up and whole, I did not offer You a pristine soul. I came in rags,with shame upon my face, A tangled mess of failure and disgrace.

Yet, in that state, You did not turn away, You did not wait for a more righteous day. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”*(Romans 5:8)

You saw the depth of my profound need, And planted a gospel,a mustard seed. Not for the good You hoped I might become, But for my heart,already overcome.

You loved me not because I’d earned Your grace, But simply because that is Your way. “This is love: not that we loved God,”the ancient text confides, “But that he loved us first,”and in that love abides.** (1 John 4:10)

The cross was not a reward for the good, It stood before I’d done the things I should. It was a rescue,launched in history’s hour, A demonstration of relentless power.

The power of love that chooses to embrace The one who turned from,not who sought, Your face. You loved me then.You love me still the same, And call me now by my beloved name.

So let this truth sink deep into my bone: I am both fully known,and fully owned. Not by my merit,but by mercy’s claim, By the great power of Your holy name.

You loved me while I was still a sinner. You are the righteous,the divine, the Winner. And now,because You loved me first and best, My soul,once anxious, finally finds its rest.