Have you ever noticed in yourself a desire to be right in an argument at the expense of hurting a relationship? I see in myself a desire to prove myself at the expense of others. Standing for truth is important, but when love has left my heart, I have created an idol. “The approval of others” idol is a cruel master. This idol manifests itself in many ways. I get angry when I do not get the praise and respect of others. I am petrified at the thought of confronting my brothers and sisters in Christ. I shy away from sharing the gospel with needy sinners, fearing rejection.
Must I prove my self-worth to strangers, friends, and family? Oh the folly of it! When I seek the approval of man and fail to love others more than myself, I suffer from spiritual nearsightedness and have forgotten that I am cleansed from my former sins (2 Peter 1:9). It is only by realizing that I get my self-worth from Christ that I can be free from the need to prove myself. Christ created me. He loved me and gave himself for me on the cross (Gal 2:20). Let my boast be in the cross, not in my own righteousness or abilities (Gal 6:14).
I am united to Christ. I am declared righteous in God’s sight and my sin is not counted against me because of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on the cross and His obedience to the law. Justification is an act of God’s grace, not tied to my performance. Hebrews 10:14 says it well: For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
C.J. Mahaney explains:
You will never be more justified — more accepted by God and righteous in his sight — than you are right now or than you were that first moment you exercised the gift of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our hope for each day is not in trying to earn God’s forgiveness, but to look outward and upward, trusting in the work of God’s Son on our behalf, for our justification is in Him, permanently and forever. – CJ Mahaney
I need to remember that my righteous standing before God is secured by the sacrifice and obedience of Jesus. If Christ is my Savior, I have been made righteous through Him! The gospel frees me to love people and die to my selfish lusts. If I fear God, I need not fear anyone or anything else. May the truth of Christ’s atonement and love for sinners sink into my heart. I should be honest with myself about my sin. I need not hide my spiritual nakedness. Instead, I should bring my sin into the light so that it can be exposed and wither.
We often come up with certain rules or laws, believing that if we keep them, we are more “right” before God. It is then only a small step before we start judging other people based on their performance regarding these rules or laws. The rules that we make for ourselves are often good things. However, we often abuse them. For example, as we struggle with the desire to be in control of our lives, we erect laws that try to maintain that control. These laws could be as simple as, “Don’t cut me off on the road’ or “The house has to be kept tidy.” When people break these laws, we feel that we are losing control, and that people do not respect us. Moreover, we feel that we are right and they are wrong. The usual result is anger, whereby we try to retake control of the situation and show just how right we are. Thus, instead of the law being used to tell us how we ought to love other people, we use it against other people. – A Sunday School Lesson
I have nothing to prove. I am what I am by the grace of God. May we learn to enjoy the freedom of the gospel: freedom from slavery to sin, freedom from legalism, freedom to enjoy God, and freedom to love others.
Compare to get praise and respect from others, “I shy away from sharing the gospel with needy sinners, fearing rejection.”, do the right thing (like point out their need of the gospel, aka they are sinners) in the risk of losing them as friends is harder. I mean, it may upset you when you don’t get the praise and respect you think you deserved, it is even worse to risk the whole friendship, the rejection.
But, in term of share the gospel, often time the outcome is not as bad as you think – most of the time it is not bad at all from my own experience. You do what you are supposed to do, they got your message, you guys are still friend, not too bad, huh?
But, to be a “minister” in school do need your dedication though – you dedicate yourself into this missionary until you graduate. Even in the worst situation, that if you are really going some friends in this process, and some others would hate you for it – SO BE IT! Friendship is God blessing, but the missionary is on the top of that.
And, frankly, those who will hate you because of the message is not worth to be your friend.
Thanks Peter. I’ve been thinking (and hearing from others) a lot lately about how we, as Christian, must be defined by love of God and love of man above all else… I certainly fail at that!
On thing I’ve been doing lately as I take notes in church is instead of writing “we…” I write “I…”. When I write “we” I certainly think of all the others who need to start doing that, not myself, but when I write I, I’m much more convicted by the Word.
I hope you’re doing well.
Hey Petey! I think the title of this post is so cool, and the last part of your Sunday School quote really drives it home. Paul makes it amply clear that one purpose of the law is to show us sin, but it’s all to easy to forget that the law gives us much more. One thing it does is teach us how to love others by forcing us to examine our relationships for any envy, selfishness, or hatred. It also “frees us to love” by the fact that we don’t have to spend time worrying about a guilty standing before the Righteous Judge due to Christ’s work. Now that’s liberating!
I’m reading Piper’s book too…race ya!