TRYING TO PROVE OUR WORTHINESS

 

I gladly recognize that I am unworthy of anything good that comes from God, and I find this realization to be liberating. It relieves me of the burden of maintaining a façade and of trying to impress and prove myself to others. It allows me to accept myself and to honestly confront my failures, selfishness, and self-centeredness. I can now be me and shed my mask I had used to impress others.

Here’s out it works – those who humble themselves to admit the painful truth about themselves will be nurtured and exalted by God. Those who maintain the lie and exalt themselves will be allowed to reap its consequences. Jesus had taught:

·       “…For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

 

Jesus illustrated this principle in the parable of the Prodigal Son who had made a mess of his life. He returned home to his father and humbled himself admitting his total unworthiness. However, when he did this, his father embraced him and honored him with a great celebration:

 

·       And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:20-24)

 

The father did not tell his son how worthy he was of all his father’s blessings. Instead, he poured out his love for his son simply because he had returned to his father. However, the father had another son who considered himself worthy. Ostensibly, he had done all the right things. However, his belief in his own worthiness made him contemptuous of his brother, and he refused to attend the celebration, thereby alienating himself from the rest of his family.

 

I have found joy by embracing the truth of my unworthiness before God and by entrusting everything to my Savior. It has made me grateful for the many good things I have, knowing that I do not deserve them. It has also built for me bridges into the lives of others.

 

Therefore, it is not surprising that Jesus taught us that we should regard ourselves as unworthy servants:

 

·       “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)

 

What liberty we have if we can accept our unworthiness and neediness. Self-trust is a trap:

·       Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5–8)

 

We are His beloved and blessed servants who trust in our Master’s care and esteem. This is truly freedom and self-acceptance. We no longer have anything to prove. If the Savior accepts me, it no longer matters what others think of me.