Falling Short? Remember the Gospel

One of the themes I constantly find myself exploring on here is how much I fall short of the standard God has set. Even earlier today, I wrote about how I fell short of respecting and loving other people as I should. I've written about my own shortcomings more than a few times. But I realized while resting earlier today that one of the things that I haven't kept coming back to as much is the theme of the Gospel--that in the cross of Jesus Christ, we have peace with God and forgiveness from our sins.

Jesus died for those of us who don't think before we speak. Jesus died for those of us who can't love people as they should. Jesus died for the upset, the depressed, the impatient, the anxious, and everything else you could possibly list here. And how easily we forget that, even though that is supposed to be the central tenet of the life of every Christian. Why is it that I explore in my writings my own sin more often than I explore the Gospel? Shouldn't a recognition of my own sin lead me to a joyful remembering of the Gospel? Yes, it should, but all too often it does not.

Let us praise the God who looked upon us in love and pity and sent His Son to die for us. Only there can we find forgiveness, and only there are we ever going to be able to change and live for Him. Fortuneately for us poor sinners, God is not a judge with a clipboard, sitting up on His throne waiting for us to mess up. Rather, He is a loving Father who welcomes us back to Him every time we go astray and return. We didn't deserve this grace the first time, and we still don't deserve it now. But it's there anyway, and we ought to lift up our heads and cry Hallelujah! in joyful recognition of that fact.

"But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, ESV)

Luke