Have you ever felt like you need a lot of mercy and help, even on your best days? Do you know how it feels to be right on the edge of losing it, even when things are going really well? I know that for me, the more I know myself and the more honest I am with myself, the more grace I need. Even when I’m spiritually fired up and feeling really close to the Lord, I’m bound to be an idiot in one way or another. It always surprises me when I meet a person who wants to measure the health of their spiritual life by looking at the consistency of their own behavior. I mean, really? That’s what you want to go with? If God were to keep a ledger like that, I know I’d be toast, and if the behavior chart included my thoughts, it’d be over. I don’t even know the depth of my own need. I think that when it comes to our personal holiness, most of us are fooling ourselves. That’s why I’m so thankful for Jesus. He doesn’t keep the kind of ledger we think we could live up to. He just pays for everything. He covers our backs on every stupid mistake, slip of the tongue and dark thought. One time Peter ran his mouth to impress some temple officials and implicated Jesus in a tax liability He didn’t owe. Jesus didn’t make Peter pay for His mistake, but instead pulled off one of His craziest miracles to completely sort out the mess. Wow. I need that type of kindness in my life. I want that kind of understanding. I need Jesus to cut me a lot of slack.
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