O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:24-25 (NKJV)
Do you ever feel like you fall short?
We all struggle to come through on our good intentions at times.
Even the Apostle Paul felt this way, frustrated because his actions didn’t measure up to his intentions. He said, “I can determine that I am going to do good, but I don’t do it; instead, I end up living out the evil that I decided not to do” (Romans 7:19, VOICE).
I think we’ve all felt that way at times, and when we fail, we often think that God is going to pull away from us. But God never said that
He needed you to be perfect to have a relationship with you. In fact, Paul clears things up in today’s verses. Right when he’s thinking, “It’s hopeless! I’ll never get this right!”, Paul is reminded that God never asked him to set it right.
God sent Jesus to set things right for us!
You don’t have to earn God’s acceptance. Jesus already did that for you! He makes it possible for you to have a relationship with God, and if you’ve made the decision to follow Him, you now have access to unconditional acceptance—without condemnation.
God loves you completely, passionately and eternally. In fact, He loves you so much that He wants to help you to make good choices—choices that line up with His principles and that lead to your best life possible.
A relationship with Him empowers you to follow through on those good intentions! But remember, love comes first. God’s unconditional love for you is the foundation of everything.