You know I'm bad, I'm bad - You know it...

So Michael Jackson got something right... we are bad. I am bad. You are bad. He was bad (I'm not even going to go there...)

This isn't my most uplifting post, but it is meant to be humbling...and when you are humbled, I hope you turn fully and joyfully to your Savior, Jesus. So I guess, in a sense, this post might be uplifting after all...

I just want to take a moment to remind you...and myself... that we are not good. Psalm 53 says: God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one (53:2-3).

Not even one. We are not good. We do not seek God of our own accord. We don't please Him. We don't have anything worthy to offer Him. Isaiah says that even our most righteous deeds are like a "polluted garment" or a "filthy rag" in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6). Apart from Christ, we are despicable in the eyes of a holy God and rightfully so.

So why do we spend so much time thinking we are good? Thinking we are right? Thinking we are entitled to certain things? A house, a car, a job, friends who love us, family who supports us, happiness, health, money in our savings account? That we deserve to be respected, loved, praised, admired, comforted or encouraged? We don't deserve these things. But admit it, even when you say that Jesus is your everything and acknowledge with your lips that you deserve nothing, you don't always live your life thinking that way. At least I know I don't....

The Bible is clear that we deserve death for our sins (Romans 6:23), and anything less than that is by the grace of God. Even the very air we breathe each day is an undeserved gift from a good God. However, I can say those words with my mouth, but I don't necessarily always live those words by the way I act and, especially, by the way I think...

Because when I am wronged, I think it's not fair. When I am frustrated, I want a fast fix to my problem. When I am sinned against, I want an apology. I want repentance. I want a resolution. I may say I don't deserve my health, my wealth or my happiness, but my negative, selfish attitude when things go wrong would indicate otherwise...

So stop for a moment today, and ask God to open your eyes to the truth. When you find yourself frustrated or feeling wronged and resentful, pause in prayer and ask God's Spirit to fill you with truth. Ask the Holy Sprit to overcome your fleshly ideas of entitlement and speak the Word of God to yourself, "there is none who does good, not even one."

But don't stop there. Think of Chirst. Who came. For you. Who died for you, even though you do not deserve it. Who suffered through a death that HE DID NOT DESERVE. He was entitlted. He belonged in heaven, yet he came to earth. He was supposed to wear crown and not one made of thorns. He deserved honor and instead he got a death sentence. Christ, who deserves every title of glory, praise, honor, and fame, became disentitled for you and for me.

What a beautiful gift. It is my hope that after you ponder, seriously, your own depravity, your own filth, your own incapability of doing anything good on your own, you will turn to Christ. And you will see His purity. His goodness. His utter holiness. And you will know that His righteousness is yours, not because of anything you have done, but because He came to make you new and clean. And that you will live and love and forgive joyfully because of the One who became disentitled to give you a new title... Child of God (I John 3:10).