Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I'll never forget when I was a hospital chaplain, I spoke to a 91-year-old woman who was actively dying, and she started to open up about her life and the regrets that she had. I found out that she had been going to church most of her life, and she made a statement that has stuck with me to this day.
Struggling to Believe God Loves You
She said, "For most of my life, I struggled to believe that God actually loved me."
That can sound like a very elementary truth. If I were to say, hey, God loves you, you'll probably think, yeah, I know. But do we truly believe that God loves us?
When I started to talk to her, she began to share how she kept a scorecard for most of her life. When she was doing well—reading the Bible, praying, going to church—she felt like God was pleased with her. But when she would have days where she didn't do those things, she felt like God just wasn't for her.
A Beautiful Reminder
In our text today, it's a beautiful reminder that no matter how many times we fail, we have a God that not only doesn't keep a record of our wrongs, but He extends forgiveness to us.
Hear what the writer says: "LORD, if You kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?" None of us. Here's why: because we're born sinners and we sin by choice.
But the verse doesn't stop there. The next verse says, "But You offer forgiveness." The hope that we have—even when we miss the mark—is that forgiveness is freely given to us. We just simply have to ask for it.
God Always Sends Help
God is so gracious that He doesn't leave us hanging. As my buddy would always say, "God always sends help." How does He do that? He sends His one and only Son to die on the cross for us and offer our greatest need—which is what? To be forgiven of sin.
As I look back on my conversation with this woman, I was just reminded of this fact: we can go to church our whole life and still struggle to believe that God loves us.
We Live in a Performance-Based Culture
We live in a culture that's performance-based. If you do good, then you will get good. But that is not the Gospel. The Gospel is simply this: there was a Man whose name is Jesus who was good for you. If you place your faith in Him and ask for forgiveness, He will forgive you of your sins.
That is the good news of the Gospel.
