Defiant JoySample

Letting Go of Legalism

I used to think that sorrow steals our joy; that sadness itself is what ruins our hope of happiness. But joy and sorrow can blend together, contrast each other, and reveal to us beauty even in the darkest of nights. Together, they remind us of our Savior who endured suffering for the promised joy of our company in heaven.

So what holds us back from earthly joy?

Many of us get caught in a cycle of endlessly striving. This is sometimes called legalism or works theology. The upshot is, we don’t know how to rest in the love of God. We can’t comprehend a love without any strings attached. We feel a need to earn God’s love, and this robs us of the joy he wants us to have. Like Sisyphus of Greek mythology, condemned to roll a boulder uphill for eternity, we push our boulder of good works up, up, up, until we slip or lose our grip. Inevitably it rolls back down, leaving us feeling like failures.

But recognizing our pattern of false thinking has an odd way of freeing us from it. It’s like looking down and seeing your shoe untied. Well, no wonder you kept tripping! Unlike family and friends who may let you down or drift away, God loves you perfectly, faithfully, and forever. He is Love itself (1 John 4:8). It’s his very nature to treasure his children and be merciful to us.

If we’re rolling that boulder of legalism uphill, we can’t see around it to the top of the mountain. The joy of the Lord and the beauty of heaven are hidden from sight. Thankfully, as Matthew 28 tells us, we are no longer condemned to struggle behind a stone. An angel of the Lord has rolled the stone away! Jesus is risen! He walked out of the tomb in defiance of death, in defiance of evil, and in defiant joy. And because of his goodness, so can we. Not only has our stone been rolled away, but he’s made the mountain smooth and level (Isaiah 40:4). Our path is no longer an uphill battle. The law can no longer condemn (Romans 8:1). The boulder can no longer imprison. We can let it go, step out from behind it, and into the glorious light of grace.

God, you love me with no strings attached! Help me to not only know this in my mind, but feel it in my heart, and live out this beautiful truth every day. Amen.