Galatians 3:6. just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”
Think together: What does it mean to believe in something? Is there a difference between believing that something is real and trusting it to save you?
Read together:
Some of the Jewish Christians in Galatia were still trying to obey all the rules and laws in the Old Testament in order to be saved. They were combining faith in Jesus with faith in their own power to do everything right. They believed in Jesus, but they also believed in themselves.
You are growing up in a world that tells you to “believe in yourself.” Have you ever heard that message—maybe in a movie, song, or book? But the Bible’s message is very different. The Bible tells us to “believe God,” just as Abraham did. Abraham didn’t believe in himself; he believed in God and the promises God made to him. Then come these words: “and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Abraham was counted as perfect (righteous) by God, not because he was perfect, but simply because he believed what God said. That’s called faith, and faith saves us.
Faith in what? In Jesus. Believing in yourself can’t save you because you will always let yourself down. We all make mistakes and fail. I know I do—do you? We also can’t believe in our own good works for the same reason: we will never, ever be good enough to be called righteous by God on our own. Even when God “counts us as righteous,” we are still sinful. Abraham was, and so are you and me.
That’s why we have to keep believing. Keep trusting. Keep having faith. We never outgrow our need to believe in Jesus and trust in him to call us righteous, even when we don’t act like it.
Do something together: Have a family egg-toss or water balloon toss. Toss the egg/balloon back and forth while moving further apart. The eggs or balloons illustrate our good deeds (believing in our selves). For a while we might be able to toss these fragile items without them breaking, but eventually they prove to be just too fragile to last.
Because of Jesus: We are counted as righteous (perfect) when we believe in him.
With Jesus: We can trust God and not have to trust in ourselves.
Pray: Father, you have called me righteous, not because I’m good, but because Jesus has been good for me. Amen.
