It's not easy to be like Jesus

I’m a good person.

For the most part, I obey the rules. I don’t get in trouble. I try not to upset people or cause any kind of conflict.

I mean, I try to be nice to strangers, cordial to my landlord, considerate to my roommates.

I’m certainly not a bad person – I don’t steal or cheat. I’m not a traitor. I’m just your average good person, trying my best to make it in the world.

The thing about the gospel is, it doesn’t matter that I’m a good person. I could be the best person, and it wouldn’t amount to anything. The thing about the gospel is that I’m a sinner. The truth is that

“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.

I’ve sinned. So have you. I’ve sinned against God, just the same as your best friend, your sweet old grandmother, and your worst enemy. Sin makes us the same. In a way, sin makes us equal. As far as God’s glory is above us, we’re in the same boat — a bunch of sinking sinners trying hopelessly to survive, flailing around so as not to drown and inevitably smacking each other around in the pitiful process.

Because remember, as typical and downright normal as it is to be a good person these days, it’s hard to be like Jesus. It’s hard to practice forgiveness toward those who hurt you.

It’s easy to be a ‘good person,’ but it’s impossible to be righteous on our own. Without the saving grace of Jesus, we’d all be goners. Without the empowering presence of the Spirit of Christ, we’d be doomed to the miserable existence of a ‘good person’ bound for hell! Instead, we have the right to become the very children of God! It’s better than being a good person – it’s being an heir with Christ, a member of the family of righteousness, a participant in God’s kingdom come in which all is on earth as it is in heaven.