The radio host asked his co-host if she’d been engaged before. She had! And this is the story she told of why she has a former fiancé instead of a current husband.
Once my fiance and I were walking through the supermarket. He picked up a magazine, flipped it open, and held it out to me. “See this? This is beautiful,” he said, pointing to a picture of a model. “And you’re almost there.”
{cricket, cricket}
You’re probably gasping in horror at this true story. How could he say something like that to her? What a ridiculous standard to hold someone to?
A Familiar Story
The enemy uses a similar tactic to undermine our confidence. He’ll try to sneak in the back door and tell you you’re not as good as you should be. He’ll hold up a standard – like God’s perfect one – sadly shake his head, and taunt you with, “See? You’re not as godly as you should be.”
If we listen to the whispers for long, we’ll start feeling guilty and less than. Shame will creep in, and the lie “You’re not good enough” will settle into our hearts.
The True Story
But let’s fight back against the untruth. Sure, we might not measure up to “incredibly good Christian” status, but we don’t have to!
Because of grace.
Because of Jesus, God knows all about you and sees you as an adored, chosen, righteous, adopted, justified one with Christ in you. Even on those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, He delights in you! Nothing you do or don’t do today will make God love you any more (or any less) than He does right now.
God never expects perfection from you. He wants you to trust what Christ has done within you. He wants you to believe and trust your new identity in Jesus. And He wants you to stay wrapped up in His grace every day.
When God looks at you, He says, “Magazine, schmagazine! See my precious daughter right there in real life? I’m delighted I created her. She is learning how to live out of her true identity in Christ today, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
