Issue: I made a big mistake and now nobody seems to be able to see past my mistake; when they look at me that is all that they see. I feel like I have lost my identity due to my bad choice.

Insight: Everyone on the planet makes mistakes (Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,). Some just make them in secret and some make them in public. For those whose mistakes are made public, people do tend to hold it against them. It is unfortunate that not everyone's mistakes were made public.

It reminds me the story in John 8:1-11, Jesus was teaching the people on the Mount of Olives and the religious people brought forward a woman caught in adultery. They said to Jesus that the law said that anyone caught in adultery should be stoned. Jesus replied saying that if anyone was without sin they could cast the first stone. One by one they all dropped their stones and walked away. If everyone looked at people's mistakes the same way, I am sure they would act differently toward you.

God created you, therefore it is in Him that you gain your identity. God created us in His image and he called us good (Genesis 1:27-31). We are good people who make bad choices. This is who God created us to be. This is who we are. Once you understand that it changes even your own self image. Society wants us to believe if we make bad choices we are bad people, but God, our Creator, says we are good. Once we grasp onto this concept our lives seem more managable because we no longer need to change who we are, we just need to change our choices.