You're as Perfect Today as You'll Ever Be...

...So stop trying so hard. 

 

From the world’s point of view “what you see is what you get.” In other words, you are judged (sometimes harshly) by how you appear and behave on the outside. 

 

However, if you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior, you are made “new” and God no longer sees your “old self” (the outside). Rather, you are known by God from the inside, where you have been forever cleaned-up in Jesus (Isaiah 1:18, Acts 13:38) 

So then, why do we as Christians still try so hard to get God to like us? 
 

It is faulty thinking to apply worldly attributes (trying to be good enough) to the way God sees us -- it only makes us miserable. We were never intended to live like that. God does not grade on the curve, and living like He does will steal your joy faster than anything else I can think of. You can now stop comparing yourself to everyone else and worrying about how you're "measuring up." We all get the same love and forgiveness. It is unconditional and permanent.

When you invite Jesus into your heart and have accepted His forgiveness, you are transformed. God does not see what you see in the mirror. He only sees your spirit (the real and eternal “you”) which is forgiven, complete, and as perfect today as it will ever be. 

Nothing you have done in the past -- and no sin you will surely commit in the present or future will alter your standing in God’s eyes. 

 

Does that give us permission to sin? In a way, it kind of does. Another way to put it might be that while we are still housed in our earthly bodies, sin is inevitable. According to Scripture, we will indeed continue to make mistakes and do sinful things (Romans 7:21-25) – but we won’t feel good about it because it is not who we are anymore (Jeremiah 29:11). But most important of all:  Jesus died for our sins, so our sin no longer separates us from God. Even when we let go of God in our frailty, He never lets go of us (Romans 8:37-39).

 

Sin is not just a bunch of things that God doesn’t like.

 

Sin is simply not good for us. That should be motivation enough to avoid it. For the non-believer (separated from God’s forgiveness in Jesus), the “wages of sin is [spiritual] death.” But for the believer who has accepted Jesus (who paid the price for our sin), the consequences are different. They are limited to this world. If you break the law here – moral or legal – you will usually pay up, one way or another. But be careful that you do not attribute that kind of judgment to God.

He gives us guidelines to live by for sure, but they are for our benefit here -- to make our lives better -- not to make us more saved. We are as saved today as we'll ever be. You can't earn salvation, you can't repay it, and you can't lose it. (Ephesians 2:8)
  
There is nothing you can do to get God to love you MORE or LESS.

So give up the rat race and rest in His grace. All He ever wanted was your heart. So give Him that, and the rest will follow.


If you would like to learn more about how much God loves YOU, click here

I have a song for everything:

"Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" by Phillips, Craig and Dean; "From the Inside Out" by Seventh Day Slumber; "All You've Ever Wanted" by Casting Crowns ; "Your Grace Still Amazes Me" by Phillips, Craig and Dean