Romans 3:21-31

God has recently put a focus on the word "pride" in my daily life. I'm sure there is a reason for that! So often it seems pride is a huge focus of every devotional, message I listen to, every book I read, or in-depth conversation I have with somebody. Self-justification, self-"promotion", and self-righteousness have also risen to the surface along side of pride. I have had a sickness show its face as well: a deserving mentality. After observing myself, thoughts surface like:

-I am a Christian, that has to count for something, right?
-I sit and catch conversations of those around me and judge them without realizing it, thinking that if they really knew Jesus as they said they do they would not talk the way they do, be cranky as often as they are, complain as much as they do, or be as judgemental as they are. If they truly loved others and really loved Jesus, they would show it in the things they say, how they live, and how they treat others.

We've all done this, right? I sit and listen and put myself on a pedestal above others, nonbelievers for sure but above believers as well.

Then God does something amazing. With one verse (Romans 3:23 in my case), He brings us back to earth. God calls me out because I refuse to call myself out. God humbles because I will not humble myself. The truth: we are all sinners. All of us are on a level playing field and God is the referee. We are not better or higher than anybody else. We are ALL sinners. If you did not know, ALL encompasses EVERY SINGLE PERSON!!!! You, me, your grandma, your best friend's neighbor's nephew's roommate. We are ALL sinners. Nobody is perfect except for God. When we sit and judge others we are judging ourselves. What is in our hearts is what will come to the surface of our lives sooner or later. Right now, that is my deserving mentality and pride.

Story time: I am being baptized because I love Jesus and want people to know how God can work out a life. Because I was being obedient to what Christ calls us to do, I automatically assumed I would be able to be baptized the way I wanted to, where I wanted, with whomever I wanted to baptize me. I thought that my "obedience" deserved the reward of having it my way. Well, this is not Burger King where you can have it your way. My eyes were set on what I thought I deserved because I was prideful in my heart. Now, I am more excited than I could ever have imagined to be having it God's way.

God sends me a reminder of why we are called his children. He teaches and corrects us through His words and love. God is the one who has the ability to change us if we let him do so. He alone can change us from the inside out instead of us trying to "right ourselves" from the outside in. We are righteous only because God says we are, not because we have done anything to be righteous. We are still sinners. ALL of us are sinners. Check the pride-o-meter. Are you putting yourself on a pedestal? Did Christ not come to serve instead of to be served? If anything, in our hearts we should see others as more important than us, regardless of who they are and what they have done.
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"But now God has shown us a way to be made right with hi without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law."

~*Romans 3:21-31 (NLT)*~