Be Still - January 12, 2023

Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)

In an act which stunned the heavens, he punished himself on the cross for your sins.*

Years ago, I knew a young woman who was an heir to her family’s petroleum empire. Rumor was that before she could inherit her share of the fortune, she had to prove that she could live without it. The gossips didn’t say how long she had to live on her own or just how well she had to live – at that point in her life she had a husband, a baby, a VW Beetle, and a dead-end job. (I Googled her but didn’t learn anything to satisfy my curiosity.)

When God decided to demonstrate his love for us, he did the opposite of what this woman’s family did. He didn’t require us to perform some valiant deed to prove our worthiness. There were no restrictions on his show of love. He didn’t wait for us to deserve his love – because we never could. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Knowing that we were sinners, and always would be, Christ chose to die for us anyway.

I don’t know if the heiress felt that she was never going to be able to prove her worthiness to receive her birthright, or if she lived in hope. As Christians, we could fall into the pit of hopelessness if we forget that the power of God’s love is greater than the weight of our sin. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we are still sinners, his blood covers us and cleanses us and makes us worthy.

The greatness of my stumbling and the multitude of my sins do not exceed God’s longsuffering, His mercy and His lovingkindness to me.*