The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of November 9
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (Romans 3:22-24)
It’s tempting to construct a hierarchy of sins, isn’t it? We are inclined to deem some sins worse than others, to decide for ourselves who is sinning worse than we are. We compare ourselves to others, hoping we’ll be able to conclude, “Well, at least I’m not as bad as that person.”
But in these verses, Paul lays the truth on the line once and for all: no sinner is worse than another, and no sin is worse than another, because all sin distances us from God. Brokenness is a level playing field. As Matthew so pointedly reminds us, “Why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?” (Matthew 7:3). In other words: we have enough to worry about in managing our own sins, so let’s stop pointing fingers at everyone else.
None of us, not a single human being on Earth, is right with God until we place our faith wholly in Him. We all begin behind a looming, formidable wall – a wall of sin that separates us from God. And yet, once we answer “yes” to God’s invitation into undeserved grace, that wall shall stand no more.
Lord, it’s hard to admit my own sins, which is why I sometimes try to redirect Your gaze by pointing out others’ mistakes. Thank You for reminding me that You don’t classify some sins as worse than others, but instead, You focus on lavishing Your grace equally on all of us. Amen.