I wish I could say that walking worthy of my calling is one of the things I do best. I wish I could say I’ve mastered the art of being Christ’s ambassador and that I exemplify Christianity perfectly day in and day out. I wish I had fewer faults, less fear, and greater boldness to speak the truth as it ought to be spoken. I suppose even the godliest Christians among us share some of these same desires and weaknesses, but I’m confident that, at the moment I was saved, I went from being the chief of sinners to the most unworthy of God’s children.

 

But although I’m absolutely undeserving of my God and His goodness, I realize that to spend my time wallowing in guilt or self-pity creates far more problems than it solves. According to 1 Corinthians 6:11, I have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God Himself. Why then should I spend any time second-guessing what God has assured me of through His Word? The only byproduct of this kind of pseudo-humility is that we become unfruitful in our service to the One we feel so unworthy of, thus robbing Him of the glory He alone is due (John 15:8).

 

Instead of despairing over who we’ve been and who we still aren’t, I believe God calls us to rejoice in the good work He has begun in our lives as Christians and praise Him for providing grace enough to ensure its completion (Philippians 1:6). That’s not to say I should abandon the pursuit of greater Godliness, something Paul called “profitable unto all things” in 1 Timothy 4:8, but I must be careful to recognize that no amount of personal righteousness could ever make me worthy of Christ; I should instead value holiness as an avenue to deeper intimacy with God and, most of all, as a means of bringing Him glory. Anyone who discounts the need for purity before God at all has essentially “trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace” and will most certainly not inherit the kingdom of God (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 6:9)

There’s no disputing the fact that we all fall short of the glory of God by nature (Romans 3:23). The question is this: how do you choose to look at your present failures? Do you look at them as evidence of a hopeless circumstance, or do you instead delight in the grace of God and thank Him for extending the reach of His saving arm to you regardless of your shortcomings? Faith in God is more than merely believing in Him and what He will do; it’s also learning to trust and believe in what He’s already done.