“Are You Guilty?”
"Well at least I've never done THAT before." Statements like these can often be heard when someone is thinking about how "good" or "bad" they are. Many times we base our "righteousness" off of comparing ourselves with how bad others are around us. However, the problem with that is when it comes to "good" and "evil," "holiness" and "sinfulness," the scales for righteousness are not "man's" standard - they are God's standard. And God's standard says to enter Heaven you must be perfect - in other words, you've never done anything wrong ever. Last time I checked, no one is perfect. We all mess up. The Bible says "there is none who does good, not even one" (Psalm 14:3). So if that's the case, who then can be saved? The better question is can we even be saved in the first place? And if so, how? THAT is the situation mankind finds itself in. What's worse is all our sins and crimes have a punishment coming: God's wrath. Despite how bad this situation seems, the good news is Jesus is the way out - HE can provide an escape from the impending doom and can save us from our sins.
Reflection Questions:
1. How "righteous" would you say you are? Do you base your answer off of society's standards or God's standard (the Bible)? Remember: God's standard is perfection.
2. When you see or encounter people who live different sinful lifestyles, do you feel anger and disgust or sadness and compassion towards them? How often do you pray for those people?
3. Do you ever judge people who sin differently than you do? How can Jesus' behavior towards sinners inspire you to "judge less" and "love more?"