It’s in our DNA, this desire to earn our way. Even when we aren’t really trying, deep down we feel guilty about it because we know we aren’t deserving. In essence, the Old Testament law reinforced this nature with its rules of behavior. Men and women sought to please God through obeying His rules. And in a very short time, keeping the law became its own reward. People were not keeping the rules out of love for God, but in order to, in their own minds, prove they were worthy of His love.
Little has changed over the millennia. Often, when people die, the mourners will comfort themselves with thoughts that the dearly departed was a good person. In other words, they earned their reward. This, too, is often why people go to church or help in a homeless shelter. They are seeking to be good people—good enough to earn God’s love.
The law, however, was not an end in itself; it was a means to an end. The law, with all its rules, was meant to show us the impossibility of earning God’s love. It was meant to bring us to the end of ourselves and then to Jesus. For He is the only one who lived a perfect life.
We love, we serve, we give not to earn God’s love or to prove we are worthy of it, but because of His love for us. We love because, while we were yet sinners, He died for us. We love because we are thankful to be loved.
Today, consider your motives for trying to live right. Are you trying to prove yourself worthy? If so, there is no need. Jesus already did what needed to be done. You don’t (and can’t) earn your own way. He has set you free from that.
© Jim Musser 2015
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