Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Have you ever really thought about how profound God's grace is in light of everything He's promised to us? That we have new life with Him, that we're being transformed into the image of His Son—not because of how hard we work, not because we deserve it, but because God wants to give it to us. Even when we mess up and fail, that doesn't end God's promise. He continues to fulfill it as He works in us and through us.
When I was younger and I started to understand the Gospel and this transformed life, I thought that meant all of my problems were finally going to go away. All of the things that I struggled with, I wouldn't even think about them anymore because there were going to be so many more wonderful things to focus on. The older I've gotten, I've only realized that that's just not the case. I'm going to continue to stumble. I'm going to continue to fall short. There have been days where I say, I'm never going to do this thing again, I'm never going to talk that way again. If you're like me, you know that just isn't the case.
Come On, You're a Christian
It can creep back in. I've found myself on some of the harder days going, Chris, come on, you're a Christian. You're supposed to be better than this. You're supposed to do better. This shouldn't be a problem anymore. Have you ever thought that? Well, I'm so thankful for verses like our Verse of the Day today that help us see that being a Christian isn't about being perfect—it's about turning to God when we need Him most.
It comes from 1 John chapter 2, verse 1. It says, "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One who is truly righteous."
John's Perspective After a Lifetime with Jesus
The book of John is so special for seeing the Gospel ministry of Jesus, and then to get to the epistles—1, 2, and 3 John—and see how all the lessons that were learned started to become more formed over time. It's believed that John was the youngest of the twelve apostles. Some guess that he was as young as 15 years old—I was not ready to make any sort of commitments at 15 years old. By the time he writes 1 John, he's in his old age and he's had time to reflect on his walk with Jesus, both in the flesh and after the Ascension. He's had time to really think about the weight of the Gospel, to reflect on all of the lessons that Jesus not only taught but demonstrated in the ways that He lived.
You might think that by the time he's writing to the next generation of the church, he would know a thing or two about living righteously and could easily say, you know what, guys? By this point, I don't understand why you keep struggling. It's so easy—just don't sin and turn to Jesus. But that's not the message he leaves them with. He says, look, I'm writing this to you so that you don't sin. I want to help you. I want to give you advice and encouragement. I want to turn your eyes towards God. Then he acknowledges, hey, you're not going to be perfect in it. He doesn't say "if you sin." He says "when you sin."
You Have Somewhere to Turn
You have somewhere to turn—to the advocate Jesus, who stood in your place, who was willing to die for your sins so that you could have new life with Him, so that you could wear the robes of righteousness given to you from the One who is truly righteous. What a tremendous shift in mindset—to not look at our sins and go, oh, I'm such a failure. But to go, the Bible tells us to expect this moment, and what we do in response right now matters more than anything. Let's stop beating ourselves up, and instead let the Spirit lead us into repentance—to see and understand the damage of sin, and then to ask for forgiveness, to turn away from those sins and turn our eyes towards Jesus. The Christian life is not about being perfect, but it's about being perfected. Not to be comfortable with sin, but to find comfort in Jesus when we do sin. Let's turn our eyes towards Him—Jesus Christ the righteous, our eternal Advocate.
