Made Right
Bible Reading: Romans 3:23-28

We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

What are our shortcomings? We all realize that we have them. Is this just another way of saying that we've fallen short of our personal ideals? At some time, all of us have held high ideals; we've used them to define what we think life should be like. But most of us learned early on that we couldn't measure up to them. And worse yet, we have often fallen short of the expectations of others, and we certainly haven't fulfilled all that God desires of us. Oh, the weight of guilt we carry! Oh, the pain to think of how we've disappointed those we love! Oh, the longing for some way to make up the difference between what we are and what we should be!

The apostle Paul once wrote, "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 3:23-24). Paul goes on to ask, "Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law" (3:27-28).

When God removes our shortcomings, he does a great job! "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). We can trust God to remove our shortcomings, moment by moment, if we humble ourselves to accept his way. That means having faith in Jesus Christ to make up for our lack in both character and action.

No matter how great our sins, God's grace is greater.