. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven —Matthew 5:20
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.
No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.
______________________________________________________
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Thank you for your grace which covers the multitude of my sins. I still feel guilty when I fall short. Even though I know they are all covered by your sacrifice. Should I? Is there such a thing as “good guilt?”
Well, how’s that working out for you?
Not too well.
Guilt can be used to modify behavior. It has been used by society and religion for centuries. People even use it on themselves. People like you.
But it is never my highest and best tool for the job of behavior change.
My choice is love. Think about it. When you do something from guilt vs when you do the same thing for love. The motive changes everything. So when you set up lists of do’s and dont’s, even if they have scripture verses next to them, you are setting yourself up a life of white knuckling and striving and failing. All those things on your lists are good. But you striving in your own power to be better at them…. will make you tired and depressed. Come to me. Hear my plan for you, my plan for today … and live out of that. We will work those things out of your character that need to be worked out, in my time. I dont need your help in your self improvement program. You heaping guilt on yourself will just slow down our program.
Click Image for John White's Original Vision For CO2's
