Each of Us Will Stand Before God - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - January 30, 2025
“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” Romans 14:12
Unfortunately, similar to many people, I have run into the problem of other Christians hurting me. This makes me angry because Christians are not supposed to hurt us.
Rather than tearing us down, they are supposed to build us up (Romans 15:2). Sadly, many Christians are only Christians by name and not by actions. It is good to be aware of this as we don’t need to place our faith in other Christians. They will fail us and hurt us (intentionally or not). Instead of relying on other Christians, we need to place our faith in Jesus. He is the One to whom we belong (Romans 14:8).
Moreover, Jesus is the One we will see when we pass from this world to the next. We will stand before Him by ourselves. We will not be surrounded by our friends at church or our family members. Instead, it will just be us standing in front of Jesus, alone. This scares me to be honest, and rightfully so. If we are not afraid of standing before Jesus, then we don’t have a true understanding of His holiness.
Yes, Jesus is loving and caring, and there is no reason to be scared if we are Christians. However, we should have a healthy, reverence-based fear because we know we are personally responsible for His death as we all sin (Romans 3:23). Even after placing faith in Jesus, we continue to sin. Sometimes unknowingly while other times we are completely aware of the sins we are committing. When we are standing before Jesus, there will be no running from the truth.
As believers, we have been redeemed and saved by the Lord. This is comforting and can help alleviate fear, but we also have to be aware that many rewards will be taken away due to our sins (1 Corinthians 3). Everyone will receive at least one reward; however, other rewards will be taken away depending on what we did or didn’t do for Jesus. As Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
Whatever we did for the least of people, we have done for Jesus. For these actions, we will be rewarded by the Lord—if our heart is in the right place. Doing good things just to try to earn rewards in heaven is not right because they are done out of impure motives. Instead, we need to help people because we want to and we love the Lord.
However, on the other hand, we also need to pay heed to Jesus’ words, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45). These words need to lead us to a heart of caution. If we don’t help our fellow man, we are not truly serving the Lord. With this knowledge in our hearts, we need to allow it to change our actions and behaviors.
The Apostle Paul tells us, “So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (Romans 14:12). Every human being will give an account of themselves to God. Whether they are saved or not, they have to be given an account to God. We will have to tell God everything we have done—both the good and the bad.
Of course, God already knows what we have done, our actions, and our sins, but it will be a completely different experience to stand before Him and confess our sins. God loves us, yet we must know He is a holy and righteous God (Isaiah 5:16; Revelation 15:4). We will not lose our salvation because Jesus will stand as our mediator, but rewards will be taken away as mentioned.
Worse, we will have to face the disappointment in God’s voice and eyes. It is terrible to see the disappointment in a parent’s face, but it will be much more painful to experience the disappointment of God. The very truth of Romans 14:12 needs to propel us to truly follow God, obey Him, and do the right thing. Out of our love for Him, we need to walk in faithful obedience.
Let's pray:
Dear God, I will stand before You one day. This frightens me as I know I have done many terrible things. Please forgive me on account of Your Son’s blood on the cross. Help me to live every day in obedience to You. I love You, and I don’t want You to be disappointed in me. I praise You, Amen.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Ig0rZh
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
