On our 10 year anniversary, Sangeetha and I pondered over the past decade and were thankful to God for His faithfulness throughout our married life. She said that in every situation of our life, we could clearly see God’s fingerprint and handiwork. She continued “When we start out as Christians, we start out like a diamond in the rough, big and lackluster in our character and with each situation (good or bad, success or failure, especially in our failures), God chips away the character that displeases him to make us more like Him.” Just as a diamond that is not cut, is not considered to be very valuable, so is our life that is untouched and unshaped by God. But when the diamond is cut and shaped, it becomes precious and very valuable. God cuts the bad in us, each time we repent upon our failures and develops in us a character that is reflective of His essence, making us precious and priceless.

It is the clarity of a diamond, that comes with repeated cutting, that gives it, its value. Similarly, it is the clarity (blamelessness) of our lives that matter. We realized that it is better to be a cut and shining diamond in God’s hand, than to be a diamond in the rough, big and lackluster.

Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.