Trusting in Self or Your Savior?

The manifestations of sin are everywhere.

Anger and fits of rage. Making excuses for failings. Withholding apologies. Vengeful attitudes. Blame casting. Gossiping. Keeping up appearances. Boasting. Cynicism. Hyper-critical attitudes. Lying. Complaining. Bullying. Addictions....

We could go on and on. The list of thoughts, words, and deeds that flow from our trust in self over our Savior is near endless. We love to be perceived as strong and right, sufficient for any situation and not needing anyone or anything outside of ourselves. When we're neither, we like to create facades - advancing them through deceit and attacking those who dare question them. Many will spend their entire lives trying to make and prove themselves strong, right, sufficient - in a word, acceptable.

As we said two Sundays ago, this chase tends to produce two kinds of people: the delusional and the despairing.

The delusional actually think they attain something by their efforts. They think that the right house, the right friends, the right education, the right tax bracket, the right size family, the right philanthropy, the right vacations, etc. all make and keep them acceptable to God and others. And since arriving at this mirage of "acceptance" takes a lot of hard work, the delusional are eventually and invariably exhausted by it - not to mention often zealous-to-the-point-of-neurotic to defend it. When others don't measure up to or even compromise their self-imposed standards of righteousness, they feel the delusional soul's wrath. The delusional are ensnared by their futile chase, never truly secure.

The despairing are those who immediately or eventually realize that they will never measure up - to God or others. They know that they'll never have enough going for them to curry divine favor or the acceptance of certain others. They give up, enslaved to hopeless insecurity.

There is a better way!

In the gospel, God says quit striving to earn what you can never attain through your efforts - lasting peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and the assurance of his love. Instead, freely receive his gift of grace through Jesus.

Once pardoned, you are immediately and irrevocably adopted into his family - a forever-loved child of God! In the light of that new identity, you gradually form a new perspective. You no longer need the approval and acceptance of those around you as a source of security and identity. You no longer need to be or appear to be "strong" or "right" in every situation. You can admit your weakness because God has become your strength.

How liberating it is to know the gospel that sets us free from delusions of the mind and despair of the heart!

Join us this Sunday for the next message in our series in Galatians, Freedom in Christ. In it, you'll see a glimpse of just how amazing grace actually is!