You Can't Out-Sin God's Love

Monica Portogallo reminds us that God’s love is much bigger than our sins and failings.

Last year, some good friends of mine threw a 20th wedding anniversary party that fell on my birthday. Since they live in a beautiful town on the Central Coast of California, I decided a party and a little weekend trip with my boys would be a fun way to spend my birthday.  

What Would It Take to Ruin a Birthday?

As expected, the party was a lot of fun — reminiscing with old friends, good food, dancing, and the like. My older son, though, didn’t have as much fun. First, he got into a disagreement with one of the other kids. Then the door jammed when he was in the bathroom, and he was trapped for several minutes. After a couple of hours, he was irritable and ready to leave.   

We left the party earlier than I would have liked, and as we headed to the car, my son said, with tears in his eyes, “I’m sorry I ruined your birthday, Mom.”

I stopped walking and turned to look him in the eye. I assured him, “Hey, listen, you didn’t ruin my birthday. It would take a lot more than leaving a party early to ruin my birthday.” Then I smiled at him and said, “Mom is tougher than you think, kiddo!” 

God Can Work with Us  

Recently, the Sunday Gospel reading was the call of Peter, in which Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man!” The priest at my parish eloquently brought up an interesting point: this statement shows a lack of trust in God’s transforming Grace more than it shows humility. It says, essentially, my sins are bigger than Your mercy. Humility would be saying something like, “Help me, Lord, I’m a sinful man!”  

Now how often do we think, as my son did, that our mistakes or bad attitude can ruin things irrevocably? Or, as St. Peter did, that our sins are bigger than God’s mercy? 

God can use us, sins and all, if we bring ourselves to Him with a contrite and open heart. As my pastor likes to say, “God doesn’t call us because we are worthy. We are worthy because He calls us!” If a weak, sinful woman like me can love her son enough to handle a 10-year-old’s irritability without it ruining her day, how much more so can the merciful God of the Universe handle our sins and failings without it affecting His love for us! 

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Copyright 2025 Monica Portogallo
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