Our “Good” Can Never Compare to His Perfection

For the longest time I thought I was a pretty good person. I never got in trouble, always got good grades, prayed “good” prayers, and went to church every Sunday. The list goes on…

I thought that I was a good, solid Christian because of what I did or didn’t do. I mean, I seemed to have my life together. I was an “angel child” and everyone seemed to compliment my doings. Life was looking pretty good for me.

My heart, though, was the issue. What those around me didn’t see was how I was unencouraging to my siblings. How I read the Bible in the morning, but never connect with God throughout the day. How my prayer life was really shallow. How I would seek popularity at school. How truly selfish I was.

It’s like I put on some sort of disguise for the people around me. I acted perfect on the outside– all sweet, quiet and caring– but when I was alone, I would fall into my evil ways. I did so many things I now regret.

You could use the excuse that I was just a child, but in reality, I was a hypocrite. I didn’t follow the faith I was taught. I wasn’t showing the attributes I learned about. I wasn’t living like Jesus. Looking back, one of the most foolish (and most regretted) things I did was comparing my sin to others. I used to be proud of how I “barely” sinned, and I didn’t understand why the people around me sinned so much. I honestly thought that I was way better than everyone around me.

Have you ever felt the same? Have you ever lived by your deeds? Have you repeatedly heard those childhood messages on grace and love, but never put them into action? Have you been living two-sided?

Now that I’m older, I realize how many struggles I do have– how truly sinful I  am. It’s pretty much everyday that I find a new thing I need God’s help on. I have to continually turn to God and ask Him for forgiveness.

God has been working and changing my heart. I don’t fall into my old ways as much. Instead, I’m learning to have integrity and to be more like Christ. I love Ephesians 2:8&9 which says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith– and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.”

I’ve been learning that nothing I can “do” to  earn God’s love and Heaven. God doesn’t care about the little things I do. He wants my heart and He wants to have a relationship with me. Although we live our faith through our actions, it is never about what we do alone.

Additionally, it was wrong of me to compare myself to others. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God sees us all the same– as sinners. We sin every day and we deserve hell. We all miss the mark by a lot so there’s no need to compare our “good deeds” to others (Romans 3:12). It’s easy to say that we aren’t as bad a burglars and murderers, but in reality, none of that matters. We stray away from God every day.

The beauty in it all is that Jesus came to earth and died for our sins so that we could live eternally with Him. Titus 3:5 says that He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. He chose to save us not because we deserved it, but because He loves us and wants a relationship with us. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

God is an incredible Creator! He hand-crafted us, knows everything about us and knows everything that has and will happen. He could have created a barrier between Him and us to be separate, but instead, he built a bridge so that we could spend time with Him and fall in love with Him. I can’t believe that!

We can choose to live our lives for Him because He is the One who sets us free from our deeds, both good and bad. The things we do don’t matter entirely, as long as they are for His glory. He loves us eternally and will never change. Our “standard” of good can never compare to how holy and blameless Christ is.

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Thank you for reading this post! I would love to hear about your response.

Also, I had an article posted on TheRebelution.com a couple days ago. I would love for you to read it! You can check it out here

I hope you have a blessed day!

Love, Ainsley ❤