I talk quite a bit about the life God calls us to. A life of radical love for people and of an obsession and focus placed on Christ’s face. A life that isn’t easy but so very worth it.

Sometimes when looking at this kind of life we are inspired and discouraged at the same time. It’s not that we don’t want to live this way, but we know ourselves, and we aren’t very capable.

How do we live a life that points to Christ? How do we live a life of radical love for people? Is it even possible in the end?

We aren’t perfect. In fact, we are very flawed. When someone hurts us we get angry and bitter. Forgiveness is foreign to our hearts. We sin, even knowingly, and we make excuses for our behavior, brushing it off as not that bad, or even not bad at all.

Even those of us who think we have it together spiritually can be a slave to our own judgmental attitude. Having little love or grace in our hearts and instead only an accusing finger towards everybody, even ourselves.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Isaiah 64:6

Filthy rags. In reality this term has a translation of “used menstrual clothes.” Unclean, detestable, disgusting, not to mention unsanitary and not something you really want to show off.

Our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

That just bites doesn’t it? No matter how righteous we try to be it just doesn’t really work. We are carried away by our sin, again and again and again. Clicking the link we know we shouldn’t. Letting our thought life lead us down paths we know won’t end well.

Is it hopeless?

Out of ourselves? Yes. But that is kind of the point. The point of salvation, the reason why Christ came.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13

If we were able to be righteous on our own than Christ would never have needed to come. And He certainly does not wish us to become righteous before coming to Him, because this would be impossible.

Our righteousness is like filthy rags.

But the thing is, He takes our righteous, filthy rags, He puts them on Himself, and He gives us His righteousness to wear.

But what does that mean?

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

But what does that mean?

It means that we can’t be good by ourselves, but when we look to Christ He can grow us and change us and do good through us. We love because He first loved us because without His love we wouldn’t have any love in our hearts to give. We are righteous out of His righteousness because He gave us His righteousness because we had none of our own. And in this grand exchange that is called a relationship with Christ, He will slowly change us, shape us, and mold us so that we grow in this way of living. Until one day we wake up and we are really loving, and being, and doing what is good.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

It’s not that we conquer the bad things in us, its that we forgot about them as we are looking at Christ. And as we look at Him, He washes them away.

When we look to Him, when we turn our love to Him, and hand over our lives and hearts to Him, He takes care of the rest.

And that is so very much the beautiful thing, because He did it! He did it all! In so many ways it would change us if we can just realize its already done.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32

Think about it! We lift Him up, because He WAS lifted up. We Love, because He Loved us. We are righteous, because He gave us His righteousness.

I’m not saying this isn’t a daily walk of chasing after Him every day, what I am saying is we don’t have to be so very concerned with making it on our own, because as far as Christ is concerned, its all already done.

In that moment on the cross Christ reached out, all throughout history and all of eternity, and you know what He did? He reached out to draw YOU to Himself. You personally.

I don’t know if I’m making any sense at all but I hope you see what I mean.

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; Romans 9:30

We need not pursue our righteousness. We only need to pursue Christ.

It grieves my heart so much when I hear people bemoaning their lives because they just can’t seem to “do things right.” They ask, “Why is this happening? I’m trying so hard!” Working so hard to pursue their righteousness. But they don’t have to.

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:34-36

And indeed we are free. If we have answered His call to lift Him up, because He was first lifted up. If we have allowed Him to come in and place His love in us, so that we might love because He first loved us. It’s not any grand gesture on our part, only our response to His Grand Gesture, the one He already did on the cross.

~Joy Aletheia Stevens

Photo Credit: Prayer is the language by Leland Francisco (CC BY 2.0)   

Photo Credit: Christian Cross 11 by Waiting For The Word (CC BY 2.0) 

Photo Credit: Praise by Ricardo Camacho (CC BY 2.0)