I was talking with Gina a while back. She had been married, but she isn’t any more. She has a child, a son, but the court won’t let the boy live with her.

She told me that she had been running around--getting into bad situations--and her husband left her and then the court decided that she was an unfit mother. They gave custody of the boy to the father. After that her life kept going down hill.

She talked with me about her guilt--her shame--her sense of failure--the hurt and self-hatred that she was living with. She said, “I couldn’t face my friends. I couldn’t live with my family. I couldn’t even stand myself. The guilt was tearing me apart.”

But somewhere along the line she realized how messed up her life had become and knew that there was only one way out--only one way to start over. She told me, “I wasn’t particularly religious at the time, but I went to a Lutheran pastor and told him everything--all of the guilt, all of the hurt--everything.”

But through the power of Jesus Christ she is forgiven. Gina believes that, and so do I.

When I met her, Gina was well on her way to putting her life back together. She had gone back to school and found a good job. She says she can stand herself again. Her little boy still lives with his father, and her life is still a struggle, but she says, “ I know now that I’m going to make it.”

Jesus Christ came into her life and brought her healing. His forgiveness gave her hope. He took away the guilt and the shame that was eating her up and gave her control again. Jesus gave her new life.

And Jesus gives new life to every one of us, too. Jesus brings us the assurance that we, too, are love and accepted by God--that we, too, are forgiven--that we, too, are not alone--no matter what we feel--and that we, too, will live with God forever.

That’s the gospel, and that’s exactly what Jesus brings into our lives.