Shedding Condemnation....

This inadvertently came up at small group last night. It had nothing to do with our study, but came up nonetheless. Last night, I had very little to say, but today as I was reading, this stuck with me and I need to share it.

"Some of us have been carrying so much luggage, for so long, that we think it is normal to go through life weighted down. And the truth is that, apart from the cross, condemnation is normal. Without Jesus, we all deserve to be condemned and punished for sin. But in Romans 8:1 the Bible tells us There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. " CJ Mahaney

For many of us, we know our salvation is real and God loves us no matter what, but we have to truly believe it. That is where much of the problem lies. We've been taught or shown a system to keep our boxes check and our ducks in a row. When something gets out of line or we miss a box, we begin to think that He thinks less of us....but not so. It is we who think less, because we spend too much time listening to the wrong voice inside our heads. It's too hard to believe that even when we mess up our Father loves us anyway, and much easier to beat ourselves up for it. So it is time to lay down our luggage at the Cross and let the one who can deal with it.

1 Timothy 1:16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

Paul believed that this was him, but it is us too....we have been shown God's mercy and patience just as much as the next person. I am so glad that He has unlimited patience with us, now we need to show some to ourselves.