"We be no sinners and not blameworthy."
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)
Even though we are taught that we are sinners that deserve blame and condemnation, and even though we can look at our lives and think that we are sinners that deserve blame and condemnation, God sees us differently. God sees us as He created us, with a nature that is good because it is in His own image and likeness. God sees the essential truth about us, even when we or the world around us cannot see it. To God we are not sinners but holy children of God. To God we are not worthy of blame but worthy of love and honor. Yes, we think, say and do things that are wrong, but those things don't define us and they are not the deepest thing about us. The deepest thing about us is our creation in God. He made us His good children in His image and that never ever changed. It never ever can change. We can see ourselves as good deep down, not sinful. We can see ourselves as appreciated and honored, not blamed or condemned. He has only ever known us as innocent little children who don't know what they are doing. He has only ever seen us as good little ones that are trapped and in bondage to sin, rather than evil ones responsible for sin. Good little children trapped or enslaved by evil need rescue and help and liberation, not punishment or blame. Jesus came and destroyed the sin that bound us, freed us from the tyrant that held us captive. Christ paid the ultimate price to show us who we really are and to free us from any and all evil and confusion that held us captive to sin and death. The children of God are rescued, they are freed, they are saved! We are not sinners, we are not blameworthy; we are good, we are innocent, we are precious, we are loved! And we are freed from the sin that was unnatural and foreign to us, free to be who we have always been - holy children of God!
"The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."
Romans 8:2 (MSG)
A Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for rescuing me from bondage to sin and death!