Are You a Good Person?

Are you a good person? 

Think about that questions a minute before you blurt out your answer. Are you truly a good person?

Now let me ask you another question.  Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments? (Please make note that Jesus said if you committed a sin in your heart and mind then you are guilty of that sin. Matthew 5:28. Ouch!)  Here's a list of the Ten Commandments just in case you need a little help remembering them:

1. No other gods before the One True God
2. No idols.
3. No taking the Lord's name in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. No murder.
7. No adultery.
8. No stealing.
9. No lying.
10. No coveting.

I used to think I was a good person, but based on God's standards as evidenced through the Ten commandments I'm falling a little short of being "good".  Oh wait!  Darn! Now I've broken #9 again because I just lied.  I'm actually FAR short of being good. Reading these Commandments is convicting. I actually try to be good, but then I get out of bed each morning and I end up doing something not so good. For example: This morning I thought ugly thoughts about the person that pulled out in front of me while driving. I didn't physically murder them, but I murdered them with my thoughts.

I cannot for the life of me live as a good person. Cannot! That's the reason I was so thankful when I read Galatians 2: 16 - 21 today.

Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Do you hear that?!?!?  We are made right with God by FAITH and not by obeying the law. It's GRACE - God's amazing, unending GRACE! We are to "live for God" instead of being a slave to The Law.

So there, I admit it.  I am not a good person. But I do have faith in Jesus and the Work He did on the Cross for me.

·     Are trying to obey the rules, or are you trying to live for God?
·       What’s the difference between living for God and obeying all the rules?

Lord, thank you for loving me in spite of me.  I’m so thankful for your amazing grace and love. I am a sinner, but You see me as righteous because of the Blood of Christ. I am forever thankful. – In Jesus’ name, Amen.

For a deeper study, read the following verses and make notes of what God teaches you about living in freedom from the law:

·       Romans 3:21-28
·       Romans 4: 13 – 17
·       Romans 6