Eyes Wide Open: 41-Day Lenten Devotional Sample

You Are Not a Disappointment

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” - Romans 8:31-34

Many of us struggle knowing how to respond to the voices in our heads—or concretely in our lives— telling us that we’re not enough. As believers, we’re well aware of the ways our sin affects others and dishonors God; the weight of guilt and shame can often feel much too heavy for us to bear on our own. 

Often, the worst lie we believe is that it’s not just our peers, but God himself who is against us. He too, we worry, is disappointed with our sin and threatened by our many shortcomings. 

But the truth we read here in Romans 8: 31-34 indicates just the opposite. God, it seems, is for us. He isn’t your biggest critic, He’s your biggest supporter. In fact, while we were yet sinners, it was God who gave up his own Son for us all. Because of this, no charges will be brought upon those who God calls his sons and daughters—for it is he alone who justifies us and pardons our sins.

As his followers, we must continue to allow these truths to drown out the cultural noise. For, as Paul writes, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Prayer: Father, we thank you and praise you for the work you’ve done on the cross. We thank you that you alone justify us—we can trust that in all things, every single day of our lives, it is you who are for us and not against us. Amen.