These three words have come to mean a lot to me this year. I put them on my letterboard and look at it every day as a reminder because I am so prone to forget. If left to my own devices, I make everything about me. I self-promote and self-protect and hold myself back and use comparison to figure out where I stand. Please, someone, tell me I'm valuable. Please, anyone, make me feel like I am enough.
But these three words change that. For me and for you and for everyone.
The final words declared from high upon the cross made it known; there is nothing left to do and no one else to be to figure out our worth. It is finished.
In Pastor Timothy Keller's book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness he writes this:
"In Christianity, the moment we believe, God imputes Christ's perfect performance to us as if it were our own and adopts us into His family. In other words, God can say to us just as He once said to Christ, ' You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'
You see, the verdict is in. And now I perform on the basis of the verdict. Because he loves me and accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my resume. I do not have to do things to make me look good. I can do things for the joy of doing them. I can help people to help people - not so I can feel better about myself, not so I can fill up the emptiness."
He goes on:
"Jesus faced the trial that should be ours so that we do not have to face any more trials. So I simply need to ask God to accept me because of what the Lord Jesus has done. Then, the only person whose opinion counts looks at me and He finds me more valuable than all the jewels in the earth."
So every day, I look at the letterboard and remember that what Jesus did on this day 2000 years ago is all that matters. These three words change everything.
May you be encouraged today and always by these unforgettable words.
It is finished.
These three words have come to mean a lot to me this year. I put them on my letterboard and look at it every day as a reminder because I am so prone to forget. If left to my own devices, I make everything about me. I self-promote and self-protect and hold myself back and use comparison to figure out where I stand. Please, someone, tell me I'm valuable. Please, anyone, make me feel like I am enough.
But these three words change that. For me and for you and for everyone.
The final words declared from high upon the cross made it known; there is nothing left to do and no one else to be to figure out our worth. It is finished.
In Pastor Timothy Keller's book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness he writes this:
"In Christianity, the moment we believe, God imputes Christ's perfect performance to us as if it were our own and adopts us into His family. In other words, God can say to us just as He once said to Christ, ' You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'
You see, the verdict is in. And now I perform on the basis of the verdict. Because he loves me and accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my resume. I do not have to do things to make me look good. I can do things for the joy of doing them. I can help people to help people - not so I can feel better about myself, not so I can fill up the emptiness."
He goes on:
"Jesus faced the trial that should be ours so that we do not have to face any more trials. So I simply need to ask God to accept me because of what the Lord Jesus has done. Then, the only person whose opinion counts looks at me and He finds me more valuable than all the jewels in the earth."
So every day, I look at the letterboard and remember that what Jesus did on this day 2000 years ago is all that matters. These three words change everything.
May you be encouraged today and always by these unforgettable words.
It is finished.