God does not need our goodness. While He requires it of us and it glorifies Him, He does not need it. In the Bible we do not read the stories of wonderful, super-saints. Instead the Bible recounts the lives of flawed, sinful people who were used by God in spite of their brokenness.
This past week I read through the book of Joshua, and then yesterday we went over the story of Rahab and the spies in the Sunday school class I help teach. I always knew that Rahab was not the greatest woman in the world. Not only was she a Canaanite, she was also a prostitute. But for whatever reason, it struck me just how bad she was when I heard her occupation explained in 1st and 2nd grade terms. She worshiped false gods and caused discord in the marriages around her. Rahab was not necessarily the woman a body wants their daughter to emulate.
And yet Rahab is counted as a hero in the Bible. She helped the Israelites when they came to spy out the land of Canaan and joined their nation once they achieved victory in the Battle of Jericho. She is one of the five women mentioned in the lineage of Christ. God used Rahab in spite of her sin, the same way He uses me regardless of the things I have done. God is perfect and holy. He does not need us to carry out His will, and chooses to anyways.
Good job, Hannah. We are Rahabs who have loved other gods...until the one true God loved us through His Son Jesus.
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