Hypocrite.

Hypocrite, according to Google, is a person who indulges in hypocrisy. Synonyms of that word are; pretender, phony, fraud, fake.

I say that to say this.

Have I drank? Yes.
Have I had premarital sex? Yes.
Have I abused prescription drugs? Yes.
Have I lied, cheated, begged? Yes.

Does it make me a hypocrite because I don't live that way anymore and I preach to others about my experiences in order to help set them free from that bondage?

Nope.
It makes me changed.

I am not the person I was a year ago. Heck, I'm not the person that I was yesterday.

Even the Apostle Paul preached about how he had to reevaluate himself on A DAILY BASIS to make sure he was walking the walk AND talking the talk.

As humans we make comments like... "I saw her at a party one time..." "He used to call me every night while he was engaged..." "I have seen dirty pictures that got forwarded around" blah blah blah.
But why do we do that? Maybe all of that is true. Maybe you just read it on Facebook. Maybe you flat out made it up.
But why? To tear others down? To beat up on their walk?

As Christians, we are to help each other, to etify and make each other better.
We are to USE our past mistakes as tools to show non believers that we aren't perfect. We ALL screw up. But, in Christ we have forgiveness, love, mercy, and grace.
We are to turn from those sins and learn from them.
Not belittle each other to make us look better than the other one.
How in the world does that make us Christ like?

It doesn't.
It makes us weak.

I am in no way proud of alot of the choices I've made over my 23 years on Earth, but God is using that. He's using me.

I can now sit down in front of a group of students and honestly truly relate to them.
To the sex.
To the pregnancy.
The drugs.
The lies.
The pain.

I'm not one of their parents telling them to say no to sex, drugs, and rock n roll because it's bad. I've lived it and I can speak from the heart about why they should stay away.

So does it make me a hypocrite because I once was lost but now I'm found and I'm not afraid to shout it from the rooftops?
Nope.

Hypocrite is only a word for the weak. And name calling is for 3rd graders.

All That I Am,
Katie ♡