I remember I was very young, must have been in fourth or fifth standard. We were told by our maths teacher to bring our geometry boxes the next day for our math class. I didn’t have one. So I told my mom what I needed, and by evening she managed one for me.

Next day I entered my math class, confident and happy. After all, I also had a geometry box with me.

New pencils, new scales and everything new inside it. So as our class progressed, we were asked to draw a few lines. As I took out my brand new pencil and tried drawing a line, the pencil broke right in the middle. My heart broke. It was new! How unfair. I was almost about to cry (I was too young, maybe 8 or 9). But as our teacher was waiting for us to finish our assignment, I had to finish it before our class got over. So I took one broken piece and sharpened it and finished somehow.

As I was returning back home that afternoon , an idea came to me. Till so far I had one pencil. But now I have two halves, which also means “THREE SHARPENED HEADS”. So I actually had more than others, which are ‘use worthy’. Now my unhappiness turned into a reason to be joyful. It was a young lady’s( Me) attitude that helped her that day on, from mourning over her broken pencil to an attitude of recognising the potential of her ‘broken pencil’.

That small episode had a reason. It helped me as a person . I grew up to be a very positive person. Always optimistic.

It’s your attitude where you see yourself. Journey of our life from childhood to adolescence to youth and eventually old age, offers a plethora of experiences and encounters. It will either change us for better or for worse. And that will depend entirely on us. We can keep becoming bitter and bitter and find faults with people and circumstances, or keep becoming stronger and stronger with every experience that comes our way and come to a level where we reflect our Master Creator, see things the way He sees, feel the way He does and deal the way He would in any situation. We will always be far away from perfection, but let us keep running the race ( 1 Corinthians 9:24) of achieving that level (which can happen only through grace)

The old covenant has finished and has been replaced with a new and better covenant (see Hebrews 8:13). God’s laws are no longer given to us on stone tablets ( Exodus 31:18), but now are written in our hearts. We no longer live in condemnation, but under grace.
Romans 8:1, “Therefore (there is ) no condemnation ( no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live ( and ) walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit( John 3:18)

For the law of the Spirit of life (which is ) in Christ Jesus (the law of our new being) has freed me from the law of sin and of death.”

Law ministers death, grace ministers life.

It’s His love within us and grace that follows us, that inspires us to follow His words and live our lives the way He wants us to. Because His ways lead us to life, our own ways, lead only to death and destruction.

Remember Saul? Well we all would recognise him better as “Paul , the apostle”. One of the most important figures of the Apostolic age. In the mid 30’s to the mid 50’s AD he founded several churches in Asia minor and Europe.

(Shash Grewal(Shashwati) is a philanthropist and a social worker, who tries to reach out to hurting hearts with scriptural blessings and kindness.)

Prior to His conversion, the New Testament describes that Paul was dedicated to persecuting the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. In the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles (Book of Acts), Paul was travelling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to “arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem, when the resurrected Jesus appeared to him in a great light. He was struck blind, but after three days his sight was restored back by Ananias of Damascus and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah”.

Between the period of losing his eyesight and preaching Jesus, Paul had the time to introspect, feel guilty and wallow in selfpity for his crimes against Apostles of Jesus, and feeling miserable about his being. But, on the contrary, we find Paul preaching Jesus as ‘the Son of God’. He didn’t waste time. His drastic transformation made him one of the most important figures in the New Testament. Half of the book of Acts is dedicated to Paul’s life and works. Paul was ready to suffer for the sake of Christ (Truth) for the rest of his life, once he realised his folly. He suffered greatly during his lifetime, shipwrecks, beatings that left him almost dead, abandonment of friends, imprisonments and eventually execution (Corinthians 11:23-28) . But he remained steadfast and faithful whole his life.

Paul needed “an encounter with resurrected Jesus” for his transformation.

From “Persecutor Saul” he became “Saint Paul, the greatest Apostle”.

What do you need “for a change of heart and attitude?”

Your new life of grace, can begin with a moment’s (correct ) decision. A life, that started with and lived in sins, can easily be buried and nailed on the Cross ( it will need your freewill choice though) and start afresh with Grace! All new!

Ask yourself how bad you need your life to be in order and to what extent you will work towards it?

Obedience and faith goes a long way, and multiplied with Grace, it all works for our best (Romans 8:28)

(Shash Grewal (Shashwati) is a “Scriptural Motivational Writer, who explain’s life’s, common principles, in a very lucid manner so that the younger generation can relate to the solutions, She offers through her writing, to all the problems they face on a daily basis.)

Make a promise to yourself, never to look back to your graves ( where your disappointments, tears, guilt and condemnations weigh you down and keep you in bondage). Jesus left His grave behind FOR YOU! Why should you waste your precious life away living in shame and guilt any further?.

Romans 8:15 , “ For (the Spirit which) you have now received (is) not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption (the Spirit of Sonship ) in (the bliss of ) which we cry, Abba Father!

Who the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)

Be kind to yourself. And try saying this instead as I always do!

“I am a child of God, I am who He says I am. I am not what the world says I am. But I am a daughter/son of the MOST HIGH, and belong to my Holy Father, born and chosen for a royal priesthood. There’s a place for me in my Father’s house, I will never ever be forsaken but rather am chosen. Mould me and make me God, whatever you want me to be. “Let Your will be done in my life”.

(“”The writer has been a Cover page Model for various fashion magazines , anchored various musical shows for youth Channels and a (short film) filmmaker for Discovery Channel. Currently busy writing her own book””)