The fact that God loves us unconditionally and has guaranteed to give us His Holy Spirit on account of the work of Christ is offensive! It flies in the face of everything we grow up believing. We are conditioned to work for what we get. There is no such thing as a free lunch, remember? But the cross confronts this type of thinking. The passion and intensity in which God loves us is offensive. One of the devastating effects of sin in our lives is that we unknowingly paint ourselves in a negative light. We compare ourselves to people who are holier and more loving. We criticize ourselves for not being more faithful. We shame ourselves for being stuck in the same old sins that we’ve always struggled with. We embrace condemnation as punishment for missing the mark. Over time, these mindsets become cemented so deeply that we begin to identify ourselves as failures. As rejects who have missed the mark. In the best case, we tolerate a mild consciousness of God by assuaging our conscience that his mercy and forgiveness will prevail over punishment. In the worst cases, we assume that every challenge, trial and consequence in our lives is a direct result of God’s punishment.
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