Amazing Grace

I was just thinking about how imperfect I am. Constantly falling short of the glory of God.
I like to try and put my feelings into words, but as I listened to this song (the one below) I realized someone already beat me to the punch.

John Newton wrote 'Amazing Grace' in 1779, and the words he wrote so long ago say exactly what I feel. That man lived a great portion of his life with an incredible amount of profanity and obscenities. But before he died he saw what many of us fail to ever see- that God's grace has literally pulled us from the gates of hell. Because of that grace, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we never need to feel trapped in our sins. He sets us free. He breaks the chains. All of them. No matter what it is. The chains of death, of despair, of fear, of feelings of inadequacy, of self-doubt, of feeling alone. And so on and so forth.

I know that Christ lives. And that it is because of Him that life is worth living. It is because of him there is hope. Because of him there is music and laughter and joy and peace and art and poetry and friendships and growth and change and redemption and strawberries with whipped cream haha But seriously, without him there is nothing, but because of him there is everything.

Here are the words to John Newton's poem. Don't sing it, read it. And really think about what it is you are reading.

1. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
   That saved a wretch like me!
   I once was lost, but now am found;
   Was blind, but now I see.
2. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
   And grace my fears relieved;
   How precious did that grace appear
   The hour I first believed.
3. Through many dangers, toils and snares,
   I have already come;
   ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
   And grace will lead me home.
4. The Lord has promised good to me,
   His Word my hope secures;
   He will my Shield and Portion be,
   As long as life endures.
5. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
   And mortal life shall cease,
   I shall possess, within the veil,
   A life of joy and peace.
6. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
   The sun forbear to shine;
   But God, who called me here below,
   Will be forever mine.
7. When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
   Bright shining as the sun,
   We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
   Than when we’d first begun.

And here is the Carrie Underwood song that got me thinking of this in the first place.