Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Today's episode reminds us we don't have to be perfect for God to love us. He already loves us, even in our brokenness and our sinfulness. He came to save the broken, not the perfect. It also talks about why we shouldn't compare ourselves to others. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Christ Died For Us While We Were Still Sinners
Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”
This verse is one of those verses where it makes complete sense and you know you probably should have known it, and yet when you hear it you realize you haven’t really ever thought of it like that. We all know that Christ died for our sins. I think we probably all know that He did this even though we didn’t really deserve it. I just don’t think I ever thought of the fact that he died for us while we were still sinners. He didn’t wait for us to be pure. He didn’t require anything from us really. God wanted us to be reunited with Him. He didn’t want anything to separate us any longer, so He sent His only son to die for us while we were still sinners. That is remarkable when you think about it. It says in the verse that Christ died for the ungodly.
It can be hard to remember this sometimes. It can be hard to remember that Jesus didn’t die for those who were perfect. He didn’t die for those who always get it all right. He didn’t die for those who know how to pray perfectly, worship and praise perfectly, who fast perfectly. Jesus even said in Matthew 9:12-13, “ But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” I don’t understand why it is so hard to remember this. If we were perfect, we would have no need for Jesus to have died for our sins. None of us are perfect.
I know it seems like some people have it all figured out, some people know just what to do and what to say. You look at other people at church and they seem to have it all together. They come with their young children and their children behave. Or they don’t have children and yet they know all the songs and they know all the people. It is so easy to look around the church and see people who seem to have it all together. I remember, a few years ago I went to mass at a few different churches because Tony was out of town for work and I needed to find a time where I could go with the kids. They weren’t always ready to go in time for our regular church. I remember getting to mass, probably late because the boys didn’t want to go to mass. I remember looking around at the big families. The ones that had 5-10 kids and wondering how they do it. I remember wondering how they get their kids to behave so well. I remember thinking they all seemed so helpful. How is it I couldn’t seem to get it together with three boys and yet they have 7 children and they have it all together?
Looking around at church, or anywhere really and comparing yourself to others is never a good thing. Just because someone seems to have it all together does not mean that they do. You have no idea what happened at the house before getting all those children to church, or what happened in the car right before walking into church. I am from a big family and I can say without a doubt that we didn’t have it all together all the time. We fought with each other, we disobeyed our parents, we talked back, we were normal kids. However, we knew it was important to our parents to be good at church, so we did our best. We weren’t always great, but we did ok. But if you judged our family on how we were at church, you definitely wouldn’t be getting the whole picture. It is like that for everyone.
What just came to mind is the comedy actor Robin Williams. He brought so much joy and laughter to so many people. He seemed so happy all the time, well, all the time we saw him. Tony and I actually got to meet him when He came to Turkey on a morale tour. He did one of his comedy routines and he was so funny. He made everyone laugh. To look at Robin Williams from the outside you would think he had a great life. What you didn’t see by just looking at him is that he struggled with depression for many years. What you don’t see by looking at someone from the outside is how they are feeling on the inside. Robin Williams took his own life when he was only 63 years old. Those who did not know him well had no idea he was struggling with depression.
Every single person in this world is struggling with something. This is one reason why we should be kind to everyone we meet, even if they are not being kind. We don’t know what they are going through. You might have an encounter with someone in a store and they are rude to you. You may want to be rude back and yet, what if they are being rude because their mom or dad just died, or their child? What if their spouse died and they are lashing out because they don’t know what else to do? What if a you see someone at the store that looks tired and is very grumpy. Maybe they have been up all night with a screaming baby and this is the first 10 minutes they have gotten to their self in a very long time.
I am not saying people have a right to be rude, or that their circumstances excuse their behaviors. However, you will not be held responsible for their behaviors, but you will be held responsible for your behaviors, how you responded to them. How you treat people is how you treat Jesus. Jesus is in each person we meet. If Jesus was having a bad day, you would be kind and understanding. Treat each person you meet with the same courtesy. Wouldn’t treating everyone kindly, even those who were unkind to you, be easier if you realized they were going through something hard? We don’t know what people are dealing with, even people we do know well, might have more on their plate then they like to talk about. Cut people some slack and don’t compare yourself to others. These two things will give you so much joy in your life.
It may seem like I have gotten off topic, but this verse is reminding us how much God loves us just as we are. It is telling us that we don’t have to be perfect, we don’t have to get it all right before God loves us. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. He didn’t wait until we stopped sinning. This is important to remember when we are comparing ourselves to others. We don’t have to be perfect because that is not who God came to save. We can accept God’s love right here right now, right in the middle of our brokenness because that is what He came for. Someone needs to hear that today. God loves you, yes you, so much that He sent His only son to save you in your brokenness, in your sinfulness. He doesn’t need you to do anything for him to love you. He already loves you just as you are. He loves you in the mess that you are in. He loves you with all that you have done. He loves you in all that has been done to you. He loves you for you. God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it. He has always loved you, yes even when you did that thing, and He will always love you, yes, even when you do that thing again. There is nothing you can do good or bad to make God love you any more or any less. He already loves you to the moon and back again just as you are. Accept His love, it is freely given!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, thank you for sending your son to die for us while we were still sinners. I ask you to help us remember this when we are feeling like we have to be perfect or we have to get it all right. Remind us that you love us just as we are. You love us while we are still sinners. Lord, we ask you to give us the strength and the grace to not compare ourselves to others. We ask you to help us to see that everyone is going through something and to be kind to others, even when they aren’t kind to us. We love you lord, you are amazing. Help us to accept your love. Open our hearts to it. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. If you haven’t already received my “Invite Jesus into Your Every Day” audio training I will put a link in the show notes (click here) or you can go to my website walkboldlywithjesus.com and click on the link. The training gives you some great tips on how to include Jesus in the things you are already doing. Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day!