Romans 5:8 (KJV)

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

One of the hardest truths for us to accept is that we are inherently evil. Society teaches us to trust ourselves, to follow our hearts, and to believe in our own goodness. But the Bible tells us the exact opposite. Our hearts are deceitful, and in ourselves, we find nothing but sin and brokenness.

God never expected us to fix ourselves, clean ourselves up, or make ourselves holy. If that were possible, why would Jesus need to come? Jesus came not for the righteous, but for sinners—for those who know they cannot save themselves. He didn’t wait for us to become obedient or to fix ourselves. He came because we were completely lost, and that’s exactly who He came to save.

God doesn’t want your effort; He wants your trust.

The more we realize that we are sinful and broken, the more we begin to distrust ourselves. And this is exactly what Jesus wants. The more we see that we cannot make ourselves righteous, the more we lean on Him who is righteous. The world tells us to believe in ourselves, but God calls us to believe in Jesus alone. He doesn’t expect us to make ourselves holy; instead, He sent His Son, who was perfectly obedient, to make us holy by His sacrifice. God’s requirement was never for us to be perfect or to follow a list of rules. His requirement is that we believe in the One who was obedient on our behalf.

It’s comforting to remember that Jesus came to us when we didn’t even truly know Him. He didn’t wait for us to figure things out or to get our lives together. He came when we were lost, blind, and broken.

True love is not based on our performance but on His grace.

The gospel isn’t about us achieving anything it's about receiving everything. Receiving means to accept and believe that al things happening are for the greater good. 

When we start to distrust ourselves and recognize that we are completely dependent on God, we enter into the true freedom of the gospel. God doesn’t want us to try harder to be obedient; He wants us to believe in the One who was obedient for us. When we put our trust in Jesus, His perfect obedience becomes ours, and we are made righteous in God’s eyes. 

Many of us spend our lives trying to be “good enough” for God. But the gospel tells us that we will never be good enough on our own. That's why he sent Jesus to do achieve what we could never achieve.

Our sin, our brokenness, our failures do not disqualify us from receiving the love of God. Instead, they are the very reason Jesus came to save us. 

I truly hope that we can embrace the fact that God doesn't want your efforts, he wants your trust. 

Amen!