God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).

Our human instinct is to believe we have to become a better person for God to accept us – that we have to achieve a certain level of holiness before we can have a relationship with God. 

Common experience teaches, “Measure up! You have to hit the mark before you get my heart. Achievement before acceptance!” The gospel of Jesus Christ is gloriously and graciously different! 

God shows his love for us in that Jesus sacrificed himself for us before we measured up, hit the mark, or achieved anything – while we were still sinners! Jesus invites us to come to him even though he knows everything about us – the good and the bad.  He knows our sin, and loves us still. 

To come to him, as he desires, we resist the instinct that says, “He won’t accept me until I get good enough.” That would deny how good he is and would keep us from ever coming to him. 

Instead, we believe that Jesus really wants us to come to him acknowledging our sin rather that trumpeting our achievements – in meekness confessing we have missed the mark. 

We don’t need to wait until some future day of better resolve. We can run to the rescue that is ours today, as we trust the Savior of sinners to love us before we become saints – to embrace the messed up before we have cleaned up. 

Prayer:
God, I can hardly believe that you love and accept me despite my sins. So, help me to believe. I come to you now, confessing that I don’t deserve to come but that Jesus gave himself for me while I was still a sinner. Forgive me and help me live and love as you desire to honor Jesus’ grace for me.