Every saint has a past

There is a T-shirt I once saw with a profound message. On one side, it reads: "Every saint has a past." On the other, it reads: "Every sinner has a future." It's a great message, really. It's not talking about ACTUAL saints and ACTUAL sinners. But people. People who try to change their lives for the better.

I am someone who could wear a shirt like that. I may have turned my life to God now, but that doesn't mean I have always lived a "Godly" life. That doesn't make me a "saint." Far from it! It only makes me a penitent person. Nothing more.

I am not perfect. I do not profess to be perfect, either. I mean, I'm human. But the thing of it is that, despite my faults, I TRY to live a religious, respectable life. I TRY to walk on the good path and not on the bad path. Believe me, I HAVE walked on the bad path before. I used to be so lost, so confused, so tormented and just....bad. I am grateful my life is not that way anymore, but I DO know, every single day, that it USED to be that way.

I guess in some way, this can be seen in the same way that a recovering alcoholic continues to call themselves an alcoholic even after they've stopped drinking. They don't say "recovering alcoholic." They just say "alcoholic." I used to think this was a bad idea. That doing so would put them into the wrong mindset. "I'm an alcoholic. It's ok to have one more drink." But now I think that's not why they do this. I think they do this because they KNOW they have that label on their past. And admitting to as much gives them a gentle nudge to live a new day trying to be the opposite of it.