Worse than getting a bad medical diagnosis for yourself is someone turning to you as a Christ Follower and asking:
“Why me? I have worked hard, followed the rules, and tried my best to live a decent life, so why is this happening to me now?”
Then the person goes into great detail about their life and how it has been a journey of following Jesus all their adult life. They consistently tried to live up to a standard and be good enough. And now, through no fault of their own, they are dealing with an illness that their doctor has told them will most likely end up slowly and painfully killing them.
These hard conversations have gone through my mind for years. As I’ve reflected on it, especially now in these later years of my life, I’ve realized something important: maybe we Christ Followers have been focusing on the wrong thing all along.
In Romans 3:10, Paul reminds us, “There is no one righteous, not even one.”
We’ve all fallen short. And if we’re honest, as we have grown spiritually over the years, we might admit that much of our effort has gone into trying to be good enough—good enough for God, our spouses, our families, and especially ourselves.
But here’s the thing: God’s Word calls us to something much, much deeper, and sadly, most of us have missed it.
At least for me, sometimes, in my efforts to be good, I’ve also become overly focused on making myself and those around me comfortable. What about you? Has being good been more of a focus than the spiritual needs of those around you?
We want a peaceful life with everything in its place. We want to be able to say we’ve done well, and more importantly, we’re hoping that God will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
But Jesus didn’t call you or me to a life of comfort. He called us to a life of service, to step out of our comfort zones and into the needs of others.
The Bible is very clear that our righteousness doesn’t come from just being good or living in a way that meets some standard we’ve set for ourselves.
True righteousness is found in Jesus Christ and in living out His command to love others. You see, our lives shouldn’t be centered on whether we’re good enough. Instead, we should be asking, “How can I serve? How can I make a difference in someone else’s life?”
For years, maybe decades, we’ve been caught up in trying to be good enough. But Jesus calls us to shift our focus. He asks us to love our neighbors, to serve those in need, to be His hands and feet in this world. It’s not about our goodness—it’s about His love working through us.
Imagine if we spent as much energy on mentoring and discipling others as we’ve spent on trying to be good enough. What a difference that could make, not just in our lives, but in the lives of those around us. This is what it means to live out our faith, and to finish well.
So today and for the next few weeks, I am going to challenge you to shift your focus. Let go of the idea of being good enough. Instead, embrace the call to mentor and disciple others, to love as Jesus loved, and to live a life that reflects His grace and compassion.
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