To continue my discussion from my last post I want to begin with these verses:
Romans 4:1-3 says, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
Before God ever sent Jesus, he showed through scripture that righteousness comes through faith. You can’t be made right with God through your deeds. We have to trust that our faith is enough. So, why do we so often operate out of the law rather than grace through faith?
I think a large part has to do with our American culture and the value of being successful and independent. We want to be able to say, “I did this.” We want to be able to say, “Look at how I succeeded.” Oftentimes, that success is some version of the “American Dream” that will make us happy.
We take pride in being able to “do things ourselves”. If we didn’t do “the thing” successfully, then what worth do we have?
Therein lies the problem. We so often see our worth and our in what we do. Essentially, we want to be able to boast about our accomplishments, just like Romans 4:2 says.
So, how do we fix this mindset?
In order to really believe that our faith and his grace are enough, we have to believe that we are enough. We have to believe that our worth is not in doing things.
In Mark 1:11, God says to Jesus after he is baptized,
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus hadn’t done anything yet! He hadn’t demonstrated any miracles or given any teachings! God was pleased with Jesus for the simple reason that he is his son. The same is true with us. God loves us and is pleased by us always, no matter what we do. We are his sons and daughters and he delights in us.
We have to stop doing and start being. When we can simply rest in God’s presence as his son or daughter, transformation begins to occur. When each individual walks as a son or daughter, then we really start operating as the body of Christ.
It took me a long time to stop doing and to start being. Once I started walking in my identity as God’s daughter, I gained so much freedom! It is exhausting always trying to “do the right thing”. Walking as a daughter of God brings so much more freedom and it pleases him.
In order to operate in maturity as the Church, we must believe grace through faith in Jesus is enough. We must believe our righteousness is in our faith, not in anything we do. We must believe that we are enough, that our worth is in being children of God.
I challenge you to walk through life as a son/daughter of God. Ask him what he thinks of you. Ask him if he is pleased by you. Have a real, honest conversation with him as his child. Laugh with him and have fun with him. Ask him what the Church looks like to him.
