Imagine that before you knew Jesus Christ as your Savior,
you were nothing but a caterpillar.
All you could do was crawl around like a little worm,
weighed down by your sin and unable to change your condition.
Maybe you tried to crawl into a cocoon to hide from the truth.
Then Jesus changed you. He pulled you out of that cocoon,
and guess what you were? You were a beautiful butterfly.
You could fly freely in His grace
because of this fresh, new beginning.

But one day as you were soaring above the meadow,
you looked down at all your old caterpillar friends,
and missed them a little bit.
You flew down and decided to join them for a while.

You just folded up your wings and settled right in.
So, did you suddenly become a caterpillar again?
No. You're still a butterfly,
but you chose to live in your old ways.
No matter how much you try to make yourself look
like a caterpillar, you're still a butterfly at heart.
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

In fact, you have this promise in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ,
and it is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me,
and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
You might be feeling a lot of guilt right now,
for your caterpillar ways,
but your wings are still there
and God wants you to fly again
in His ever-ending grace.
It's never too late to be the person
He made you to be.
If you'll only stop and let Him.

This refreshing story is from

Dr. Charles Stanley's monthly publication  "In Touch"