Do you find yourself constantly troubled by your sin? Have you created lines in the sand and rules you must follow to be “good enough”? In today’s devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef calls us to evaluate how we think about being accepted by God.
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[00:00:00] You are listening to My Devotional, the daily devotional from Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading
[00:00:06] the Way.
[00:00:08] The Detour of Legalism by Dr. Michael Youssef
[00:00:13] Do you find yourself constantly troubled by your sin? Have you created lines in the sand,
[00:00:19] rules that you feel you must follow to be good enough? When we strive to earn God's
[00:00:25] acceptance, we are depriving ourselves of the freedom and contentment that Christ has
[00:00:29] won for us. We are depriving ourselves of the true gospel of grace, shackling ourselves
[00:00:36] with legalism and elevating our rules to the same importance as God's commandments, whether
[00:00:42] our rules involve moralistic guidelines, worship etiquette, or additional conditions to salvation.
[00:00:49] No matter how well intended our man-made rules may be, they are inferior to God's commandments.
[00:00:56] When we follow our faulty human thinking instead of God's perfect ways, we will find ourselves
[00:01:02] headed for discontentment.
[00:01:04] You know, we can never live up to our own harsh standards. We fail every time, and when
[00:01:10] we do, we lose another piece of our joy. Only God's grace gives us the peace of salvation,
[00:01:16] not God's grace plus our church attendance or our charitable activities or our social status,
[00:01:23] family or friends. Jesus did it all on the cross, for it is by grace you have been saved
[00:01:30] through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that
[00:01:38] no one can boast.
[00:01:39] Has a legalistic mindset shifted your focus from God's grace to man-made rituals and rules?
[00:01:47] Let's pray together. Father, we realize how easily it is for us to fall into the trap of legalism.
[00:01:54] Thank you for your grace. Help us to be on guard against legalism in our lives, allowing you to
[00:02:00] sanctify us from the inside out instead of trying to change ourselves from the outside in.
[00:02:07] We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.