Do not decieve yourself. What you do matters. It matters. Yes, we are saved by the completed work of God, and this is not our doing. We are incapable of reaching the standard of God, true.
But to be better than virtue signalling hypocritical promotors of evil? May we all be better than that. In this time, evil claims to be progressive, and leaves destruction in its wake. These are the Pharisees of this time, and being better than them is a fairly low bar.
As it was in the days of Christ.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
(Revelation 14:13 ESV)
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:13-20 ESV)
We are not supposed to be of this world. We are supposed to be in this world to point to the cross. When we get confused around this, and spend time on the agenda of this world, we will fail. When we accede to the moral standards and hypocirsy of this time, we will fail. When we stop calling sin evil, we will fail. And when we stop praying for and helping the broken, we will fail.
It is not about us being perfect. We are nto perfect. It is not about self esteem (better called smugness): leave that to smug pepe.
For the kingdom of God must exceed that of the Pharisees. It is not about regulating behaviour and thought so there is no badthink, in some quasi Methodist Socialist virtue spiral. It is not about us being unified, or agreeing. For we are all fallen. We are all in error.
It is about doing good. Knowing that our good will be acknowledged. And knowing, despite all we do, that we are sinful, and it is only through Christ that we can indeed approach God. There is no other way. We owe billions and earn cents.
Get rid of your talk of self esteem, calling it a virtue. It is pride. That used to be considers a deadly sin, Instead, look at those who are better than you, and them imitate. So you may remain with salt, and shining light.
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