Sinful… An offender. Criminal. Guilty of an offense.
Scripture says that there is no one who is not guilty. “Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God's glory. “(Rom. 3:23 NIrV)
I don’t measure up to God. He is perfect. I am not.
I no longer try to hide that fact. No more do I try to fake it, pretend…put the mask on. Neither do I wallow in the guilt and shame.
Yet I don’t wear my sinfulness as a badge.
I have learned my enemy’s method of operation. He is an accuser. He is a liar.
And I have learned my Savior’s love and grace. His very coming to this world was a sacrifice, leaving the perfection of His place in that unknown realm we refer to as ‘heaven’ was surely a sacrifice. Stepping into the womb of a young girl, birthed, potty training, puberty, adolescence, rejection, cruel execution.
What sacrifice!
I will never attain right-ness. Never will I be able to perfect my life, my attitudes, my thoughts, or my actions.
I wear HIS right-ness. “…..I see that the job is too big for me, … it's something only God can do, and I trust him to do it--I could never do it for myself no matter how hard and long i worked--well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets me set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. (Rom. 4:5 The Message, personalized by me)
You may see me put on a cross. I may wear a Jesus-Girl shirt. But I will not make light of my sinfulness and insult my Savior who suffered so much to save me from the penalty of it.
Sinful? Yes. But I don’t want it tattooed on my body or stamped on my clothing.
Saved? Indeed so ! “When I received Christ, I….. put away my sinful nature…Not by my own human hands … Christ did it…”(Col. 2:11 personalized by me)
Saved. And at such great cost to Jesus.
Let us never make light of that cost, and let us never insult His effort on our behalf.
Let us wear His Name. Not our sinfulness.
