Have you ever felt like religion was just too controlling? If you grew up in certain types of churches, you probably know exactly what I mean. All you heard the whole time was “do this,” “wear this,” “stop that” and of course, “don’t ask why.” For a lot of people, their experience with God has been all about living a certain way in order to be acceptable to Him - trying to keep in step and stay clean so that He will look down on your life and give His approval. It turns out that being acceptable to God isn’t really about your behavior at all. We can’t live this thing so clean and right that we are acceptable to Him, so He made a way for us in spite of our weakness. Jesus gave His life to offer us the thing we could never earn - a relationship with God where we’re completely acceptable to Him. That’s the Good News, and it’s completely free, regardless of what you’ve done or do. All you have to do is believe it. This message comes in like a hero, breaking down the door of the old, controlling way. Following all those rules (or trying to follow them) was like a security blanket. It was like being a little kid and crossing the street holding the hand of a grown-up. Paul says the old rules were like a guardian, but Jesus came and now it’s time to grow up, turn loose of that controlling hand and cross the street. Believing Jesus loves me and God accepts me is growing up and leaving the guardian. You don’t need to live right to be good enough. All you need is Jesus, and you have Him.
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