Are you a dismal failure? ∙∙∙

Are you a dismal failure? ∙∙∙

No one does good, not a single one. – Romans 3:12

Romans 3:23-25

 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

Often, we ruminate about what others think of us and worry that we may not meet their real or imagined expectations.

If you are experiencing low self-esteem, the Father offers a straightforward resolution. We should use God’s standards as our benchmark rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others or our own internal standards. We realize how drastically short we fall when we measure ourselves against His absolute standards. There is no grading on the curve.

Matthew 5:48 you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Scripture reflects God Himself. He has made His will and character known; consequently, the children of the King walking with him and seeking to follow his standards are, in effect, pursuing to align with God’s perfect nature.

This realization might initially make us feel even worse about ourselves, as It is a powerful reminder of the stark contrast between our flaws and His absolute perfection (ESV, Notes). Such an awareness can be the death knell of self-pride and self-promotion. However, such a moment of introspection and humility is crucial.  When we are weak, we are called to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He might exalt us at the proper time.

There is a significant difference between feeling relatively bad about yourself and feeling absolutely bad about yourself. There is room for personal growth and progress when you feel relatively bad. You can strive to improve yourself and your situation, perhaps thinking I may be bad, but I’m not that bad.

In contrast, feeling totally terrible about yourself can be paralyzing. It may leave you with a sense of hopelessness and the belief that you can do nothing to change.

Hitting rock bottom can also provide the foundation for a triumphant resolution. It allows us to undergo a significant perspective transformation. When we reach the end of ourselves, we are in the perfect position to rely entirely on God’s grace and strength. This reliance leads to true transformation and exaltation in His perfect timing.

Paul pushes the boundary and logically takes us to a dreadful conclusion. Paul does not say that we were merely sinful, depraved, or sick before we became children of the King. Instead, he asserts that we were dead.

Ephesians 2:1 You were dead in your trespasses and sins.

Romans 5:10 While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.

When we measure ourselves against the Father’s standards, there is no longer any doubt about where we stand. We see things as they truly are. We feel as though we are dismal failures. We cannot make up the infinite deficit between His absolute perfection in holiness, goodness, and righteousness and our limited efforts to become like Him. We stand condemned. There is nothing we can do to improve our situation.

As individuals condemned without hope, we recognize that we desperately need the Father’s love, mercy, and grace. The apostle Paul reminds us that we were not doing well and getting better when the Father intervened. We were His enemies and wholly separated from Him. In response to our sorry state, the Father sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for us and resolve the worst part of our darkened human condition. Through the death of Jesus Christ, reconciliation became possible, and the barriers separating us from the Father were removed.

The Father brought about a significant paradigm shift for all the children of the King. We were utterly helpless, entirely in the wrong, and condemned. However, the Father unilaterally declared us righteous, and so we are! We are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 for God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Romans 3:24 God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

REFLECT & PRAY

You don’t drown by falling into water. You only drown if you stay there (Zig Ziglar).

Father thank You for lifting me out of the miry pit and placing me on solid ground.

INSIGHT

Imagine walking through swampy woods and suddenly finding yourself sinking in quicksand up to your neck. First, you must find a way out of this terrifying and deadly situation. Second, you need to get cleaned up, removing all the muck and dirt covering you from head to toe.

This is precisely what the Father has done for us! He has rescued us from the miry pit, the ugly mess we made of our lives. Then He made us thoroughly clean as if it never happened. We are no longer sullied; all the spots and blemishes have been removed. It is as though we were put on trial and found guilty, standing condemned.

However, the Father did something miraculous and astonishing. Through faith in Christ, the Father justified and declared us righteous once and for all. This means we have a whole new legal standing before God.

As children of the King, we no longer live in fear of judgment or the wrath of God but have peace with Him. This peace is not just a subjective feeling but an objective reality, grounded in our new status as justified and cleansed individuals. Through His grace, we can walk in freedom and confidence, knowing that our past mistakes and sins have been thoroughly washed away (ESV notes).

The enemy may focus on our past foibles and relentlessly remind us of them, but the Father focuses on our redemption and cleansed lives, encouraging each child of the King.

This gives us an unexpected and delightful opportunity. We can choose either to dwell on the dark failures of our past or to embrace the clean, pure, and righteous redemption that the Father has wrought in our lives.

The choice is ours: darkness or light, death or life, condemnation or acceptance. By focusing on His redemption, we align ourselves with the light and life He offers, leaving behind the shadows of our past and stepping confidently into a future filled with His grace and love.

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark (Michelangelo).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 3-24-3

© Dr. H 2024