[why religious change doesn't work-part3] -The Gospel

  JD Greear makes great points here. I really hope you can soak them up. While point 2 really got to me, point 3 makes a good contender along with point one :)

   Why Religious Change doesn't work:
  
   #3. The insecurity of always wondering if we've done enough to be accepted causes resentment of God, not love for Him.

    As martin Luther, the great Reformer, noted about himself, my fear of God's judgement was producing a hatred for Him that was driving my heart father and farther away from Him, even if my actions looked, on the surface, more godly.

  I think every Christian in this world can connect with this one. Again, it's so powerful!
  I think all people in this world wonder, to whatever God they have, if they've 'done enough'. So many search for a purpose in this world. For some it's 'have I done my family name justice' or 'have I done America justice with my actions' and 'have I done enough to be happy with myself.' With Christians a lot of the times its 'have I done enough to make God content or happy'. Theres no shame in admitting that sin. We all have that insecurity. We're all, you could say, exposed that mind set. I love the point he makes. That feeling that makes you resent God. To the human brain we want to say, rather 'we long for God, and we're said we can't get him.' No, we resent God. That's the root of it all. We just resent him for it. We're angry, as silly as it may sound, that we're not in charge of the world, and therefore we don't like whoever is in charge.
  Some may say, 'okay that make sense...now what?' Well, like any other insecurity what do you do? Will sitting in Church overcome your insecurity of God's authority? No. We need to change. How do we change? We beg God to change us, because CHANGE only happens we find ourselves loving and resting in God. That's because True love for God cannot from when we are unsure about His feelings for us. We cannot fully love God if we don't know He loves us. Love came into the world, because he loved us first, AFTER Christ, we loved him back. So we have to KNOW he loves us. It sounds simple, but it's so hard. We cannot fully grasp his love for us, but we can get to a managable level with the help of Christ. I'm telling you, I was bothered with this for a long time. I just didn't understand his love, which was stopping my love for him.
    When our salvation depends upon our righteous behavior, our righteousness will be driven by a desire to elevate ourselves in the eyes of God. This is not love for God; it's self protection.  
    It's hard not to want to elevate yourselves in the eyes of God. I have problems with that too. And it just stings to know that I've been building this massive structure of self-protection. I mean, it's what I've been doing this whole time! Only NOW do I actually understand.
   I'll end with this quote which is so richly beautiful. Really think about it, and really grasp it.
   The gospel reawakens us to the beauty of God and overwhelms us with mercy. Our behavior changes because we change. Until that happens, all religious changes will be superficial. Even if you force yourslef to act right, you heart will be going in the other direction. This is the doctrine of total depravity.
 
   In Christ there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less -JD Greear


~Hannah