"We have in us our Lord Jesus uprisen, we have in us the wretchedness and the mischief of Adam's falling, dying. By Christ we are steadfastly kept, and by His grace touching us we are raised into sure trust of salvation."
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)
We have the risen Christ in us! We have eternal life right inside us, holding us up in life at all times, no matter what. So that means it is okay to admit we are not always perfect. We are human and we can sometimes fail or doubt or struggle. But Christ is our keeper. He is keeping us in life at all times. That means we don't have to keep ourselves. We don't have to measure up to a perfect standard, have perfect behavior, have perfect faith, have perfect emotions. We can fail and still be okay, because Christ is the One who is with us, one with us, keeping us. We are not the life, Christ is. Christ is our life!
We learn that the whole point of this Christian life is not behavior but relationship. Grace, not law. We are not being judged or evaluated based on our performance. We are free to fail and still be in the family. Even if we never improve or get our act together, our place here is assured for it is permanent. We have to know that or we will never relax and enjoy being in the family. We will never feel totally safe, included or that we are secure unless we know there is no way we can lose our place in this family of God. We are always His children. We are always one with Christ. He has permanently become one with us, humanity, and there is no going back. He has brought us with Him from death into life and there is no going back in the grave. We are always new creations. There is no going back because old things have passed away and all has become new. This is the only place to be, here in God's family, here in God's arms. Christ is our keeper, so we are perfectly kept. We are kept by His grace, not by our works or struggle to keep ourselves. We are kept by grace, which means it is unconditional and cannot be lost. We cannot mess this salvation up! That is why we have a "sure trust of salvation." It is a sure thing in Christ. So we can relax. We can be real about our mistakes knowing we will still be loved and accepted. We can fail and know we are still in the family. We are always in Christ and there is no "out." We are safe forever.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7 (MSG)
The Lord is your keeper.
Psalm 121:5 (ESV)
A Prayer: Thank You for letting me know that no matter what I do or how I fail, I can't fall out of Your family, I can't fall out of Your arms!