THINK TOGETHER
Have you ever felt terrible after doing something wrong?
READ TOGETHER
Yesterday we talked about how there is a battle happening inside of every Christian. When you become a Christian you receive Jesus into your life. But sin is also still living inside of you. In the Bible this sin is sometimes called the “flesh.” The flesh is the selfish part of you that always wants to get its own way. And the flesh is that part of you that thinks that it can be good enough to please God.
Many Christians mistakenly think that once they are a Christian that now they can obey all of God’s laws and rules. But this is a huge mistake.
When the Apostle Paul talked talked about trying to obey God’s laws and please God with his good behavior this is how he described himself:
Romans 7:24. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Wretched!
Do you know what that word means? It means tortured. In pain. Beaten up. Miserable.
But why would a Christian ever be miserable?
When we trust in ourselves instead of trusting in Jesus we quickly become miserable. When we go back to thinking we can be good enough for God, instead of trusting that Jesus was good enough for us we quickly become miserable.
Being a Christian means always remembering that we can never do anything to earn God or his blessings. Being a Christian means always knowing that we can never obey God’s rules because they are perfect and we are not. Being a Christian means always feeling good inside because Jesus is inside us, not because of all the “good things” we did today.
And being a Christian means feeling wretched and miserable at times. Why? Because when you live your life from performance, there will always be more to do. More to accomplish. More to get done. More to show off. More to achieve.
But a Christian knows that there is nothing left to do. No more to be done. Jesus did it all! And that’s why Paul also says this:
Romans 7:25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Because of Jesus we don’t have to perform anymore.
With Jesus we will always be miserable if we go back to trying to perform for him.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Talk with your kids about the difference in doing something because you love it, and doing it in order to earn something. What about sports? Music? Jobs? School work?
What about obeying God. We can obey to earn from God or we can obey because we simply trust God.
One of the best movies illustrating the difference between performing and doing something from love is Cars.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus,
I know that I can never be good enough. Thank you for rescuing me from having to perform for your love.
Amen.
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