February 25, 2025 - Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭1

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 ESV

Thank you, Jesus. What a beautiful and hope filled statement. Help us get this truth ingrained in us. Help us make sure that we are viewing you and ourselves through this truth. Help us uproot any thought patterns in us that contradict this fact. You are so often viewed as a judge up in heaven just waiting to dish out punishment anytime we break one of your rules. Lord, that is so far from the truth.  Yes, you are a just God who will bring judgement, but you have gone to very great measures to make a way for us to escape eternal punishment for our sins. You long for us to take you up on your offer. All we need to do is come to you and offer you ourselves, all our sins, and our shortcomings, and you will offer us mercy and freedom. You offer forgiveness and eternal life. What a deal.

You never come to us to condemn us. Condemnation and shame come from our enemy, never you. Satan uses them to keep us bound up. You offer us mercy and freedom. You may reveal our sin to us, but that is because of your great love for us and your desire to see us walking in freedom. You don’t want to shame us or make us suffer, that goes against who you are. Yes, sometimes we may have to live with the consequences of our sin, but even in that you want to see us walking in joy and freedom, not shame and bondage. You don’t see us as a mess up or as a sinner. You see us as redeemed, cherished, and loved. Your death already paid the debt of our sin, for us to try and pay it again is saying what you did wasn’t good enough. Oh, but it was. Help us to view ourselves as the washed clean and redeemed people we are. Help us let go of any shame and condemnation we cling to and learn to walk in the freedom you bought for us.

In Jesus name, amen.