Sinful & Incredibly Valuable
Dear Champions,
The scripture is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is Matthew 5:45 God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Over the years I have seen people getting completely destroyed by the troubles in their lives. And here's why. There's a premise underneath our lives that's so deep that we don't even realize it is there. And the premise is this: "If I live right, my life should go right." So if your life goes wrong, you either say (1) "Something's wrong with me. I hate myself, because I must be a failure." Or (2) "I hate God, because He's not treating me as I deserve." Then, every mode of the experience is either going to lead you into self-hatred or God-hatred. And if that becomes a sustained theme in your life, your life will be poisoned.
The gospel says that you are sinful and incredibly valuable. People who try and earn their salvations think like this. "If I'm living up to the expectations and obeying all of the rules and doing right, then I'm good and I'm valuable." Then when things go wrong the
anger is toward God. "I hate you! How can you do this to me?" But if you're not living up to your standards, then you feel sinful and worthless. Then when things go wrong you get angry, but instead of getting mad at God you get angry with yourself.
The gospel doesn't say that you are either good or valuable or sinful or worthless. It says that you are very sinful and absolutely valuable in Christ. Because you know that you are sinful, when bad things happen, you don't complain. But because you know that you are valuable, when bad things happen, you know that it is not a punishment.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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