Ever since the day when Jesus drew me out of a wild and rebellious life, I’ve been hearing and relaying the message of the grace and love of Jesus—for nearly 30 years now—and I still need to hear it over and over and over again! The enemy continually tries to wallpaper the interior of our lives with his favorite lies among which are the lies of religious duty and obligation: “You’re not good enough.” “You’ll never amount to anything.” “You’re a failure as a father or mother, husband or wife.” “You’re a worthless son.” “You’re a worthless daughter.” “You’re a failure as a Christian.” “Jesus is ready to spit you out of his mouth.” “You don’t read your Bible enough, pray enough, witness enough, give enough, love enough.” Or the counter lies of: “It doesn’t matter how you live.” “Sin freely that grace may abound.” Satan’s list of lies are endless. I turn on Christian radio and hear a pastor serve up a fresh plate of legalism with a “steaming side dish of guilt.” So many times when I’ve gone to churches, I feel like I have to do Ali’s “roper dope,” fists clenched together in front of the face with arms held together to protect my heart.

So we listen for love and grace, maybe in the words of a song, in the words of a friend, or in a wisp of scripture—a few words like an arrow of truth to the heart, just what I needed to hear: “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” “This is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.” The Father said to Jesus, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” before he had even begun His ministry, before any recorded miracles, before any recorded acts of compassion. I am so thankful that He looks at our lives, not according to our failures, but according to the successes of His hand—what He’s done in our lives. He loves us as we are because of who He is; He loves us because in creation we are the work of His hands. We are called to rest in Him, standing firm on His grace, abiding and living in the house of His love, the roof of His sovereign will over our head. We rest in faith. We rest in the finished work of Jesus! We rest in His arms!

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6