There is nothing you can do – absolutely nothing – to make yourself cleaner, and holier, and more righteous before a holy God.
Your good choices, though they make your life better, don’t make Him love you more.
Your denial of self, though it builds strength of character, doesn’t invoke His approval.
Your avoidance of things He has forbidden, though it offers you protection, doesn’t make Him come closer, just as your partaking in those things doesn’t drive Him away.
You are as loved as you will ever be.
You are already approved of.
And nothing can ever separate you from His presence – for the Psalmist said, “If I make my bed in hell, there You are.”
Truly, it is the work of Christ on the cross that has made you a son and a daughter – nothing you have ever done or will do can make you more or less wanted.
Rest in this, my friend. Cease striving.
You are forever and eternally dearly loved.
He did the work for you.
It is finished.
Now all you need do
Is love.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:7-8
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Journey to Beautiful 