God’s grace, love and power – Day 8

If you believe that, deep down in your heart, you are not good enough, it can have adverse effects – no matter how you came to believe this. People who believe this about themselves, react differently.

Some will withdraw: “I cannot do anything good, so what is the use!” In this way, they lose their self-confidence. They become insecure and take no initiatives, as they fear that they may be criticised and despised.

Some will go out of their way to do something for others, in the hope that they will be noticed. A third response, due to negative experiences, would be to act negatively themselves. They would criticise other people and belittle them. They are now doing to others what they themselves have experienced.

Jesus will never reject you. He will never say that you are a failure or that you are worth nothing. More than anyone else, Jesus knows what it means to feel rejected and not to experience love. He was the Son of God who sacrificed everything for the sake of our salvation. The people spoke sneeringly of him: “Is he not the carpenter’s son?” In Luke, the people thought so little of his preaching that they eventually cast him out of the synagogue.

No one wanted to acknowledge him, not even the national leaders. In their eyes, Jesus was only good enough to be nailed to a cross. Jesus went through hell. But this Jesus also comforts us, by saying that he loves us and accepts us as we are. With him we can relax, even if we feel stupid or insecure or think too much of ourselves. With him, we may find rest for our souls.