Breaking the Chains

As I prayed this morning, I found myself once again asking for the
forgiveness of my sins. I found myself once again, asking that the
punishment for my sins be laid upon the head of Jesus. I couldn't
help but feel ashamed for yet more failures in my personal life that
Jesus needed to pay for.

In my mind, I understand that the whole reason God had to step into
His creation and take the rightful punishment for sin is because we
can't do it on our own. I can't do it on my own.

But my heart aches at the thought of continuing to add to the terrible
burden of debt that Jesus suffered for. So, I seek to wipe the slate
clean up to the point of my salvation, but from that point I have the
false hope that I can take care of the rest of my life. You've done
enough already, Jesus, I'll get this one...and these two...and that one.

So I chain myself up. I declare myself unworthy of God's love and get
to work trying to pay the new debts I am accumulating. I stunt my
spiritual growth by trying to do something that Jesus has already done.

I sometimes wonder if I would give my life to save the entire world.
The answer is pretty easy in terms of the hypothetical. One life in
trade for billions...of course I would. And while it is true that
Jesus gave his life once for all, He also gave it just for you and
just for me.

If I were the only person to walk the earth, the only person to turn
from God, Jesus would have come to die for me. Jesus died for each
and every one of us. Jesus died for each and every one of our sins.
Before Jesus, we were all guilty. There are no degrees of guilt from
one person to the next. We all share fully in the guilty verdict that
put Jesus on the cross. We can never be less guilty of our sin. No
matter how hard we try to follow the law of God or how many times we
go to church on Sunday or how much money or time we give away, we will
never be less guilty.

But with Jesus, we will also never be less forgiven. If you put your
faith in Jesus and ask for his forgiveness, you are fully forgiven.

I am fully forgiven.

I don't need to punish myself for the things that I do wrong. The
punishment for my sins has been paid in full. Therefore, I can live
my life for Jesus, and get back up when I stumble. I don't need to
chain myself down with frustration and disappointment at not being
good enough because Jesus was good enough for all of us.