Have you ever asked yourself that question? Maybe not out loud, but in your heart? Do you ever wonder what God thinks about you?
I think it’s a great question, and we should ask ourselves what God thinks about us. Sadly, though, I think that we often “hear” the wrong response. What we “hear” typically is the result of years of faulty thinking patterns, bad programming and a worldly upbringing.
Once you grasp the truth of what God thinks about you and how much he loves you, it will set you free! “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). When you understand the depths of God’s love for you, his “perfect love will cast out all fear” (1 John 4:18). But, you have to be transformed by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2). You have to change the way you think, and when you do, fear and panic will have no hold on you.
Righteousness
How do you define your righteousness—your “right standing” with God? Is God pleased with you or is he mad at you? Are you only righteous when you haven’t sinned or after you’ve done a bunch of good things? Too often, we define our righteousness by our actions or thoughts: When I sin, I am not righteous, but when I confess my sins, pray, read the Bible and do good things, then I’m righteous again. Then, God accepts me.
But, that’s not how the Bible defines righteousness. Under the new convenant, there was a great exchange. Jesus, who was perfect and righteous before God, became sin for us so that we could become righteous before our Father. “For God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus became sin and we became righteous. There’s nothing we can do to become righteous. We simply have to believe in the great Exchange and put our faith in Christ. He is our righteousness. He makes us perfect and pleasing to God. “Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life” (Romans 5:18).
Sin
What about when I sin? Do I lose my righteousness? Do I lose my right standing with God?
This is where I believe most of our upbringing and worldly programming works against us. We live in a world based on performance. Do good in school, and get good grades. Do good on your job, and get a promotion. We are taught from the earliest age that good works produce good results, and bad works produce bad results. So, naturally, when we think about God’s view of us, we filter it through this clouded, broken heart lens, and fall short. When compared to God’s holiness, we will always fall short. Always.
That’s why it’s absolutely essential we let God transform our hearts and change the way we think about our standing with him. As long as we live with this wrong understanding that God is only pleased with our performance, then we’ll never be able to receive all of God’s love for us. Your sins are forgiven. Your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins are forgiven in Christ. “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalms 103:12).
There’s only one thing standing between you and God—what you believe about your righteousness. If you believe you are sinful and that God rejects you, then you will pull away and not come to God when you need him most. But, if you believe that Christ has cleansed you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), then you can boldly come to the throne of grace in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16) not based on your performance but the performance of Christ.
I encourage you this week to learn more about your right standing with God. The more you understand and believe that in Christ, you are perfect in God’s eyes, the more you will open your heart to his fear-breaking, anxiety-conquering love.
Don’t ask yourself “Is God pleased with me?” Ask yourself, “Is God pleased with Christ?” Because when you put your faith in Christ, you become the righteousness of God. You are perfectly pleasing to God!
Prayer: Father, open my eyes and my heart to truly believe I am perfect in your sight through Christ.