Somebody reading this has been carrying a burden that Jesus Christ never asked you to carry.
You love God.
You believe in Christ.
You are trying.
But somewhere along the way, you started believing that trying was not enough.
You look at your mistakes.
You look at the things you should have done better.
You remember prayers you did not say, temptations you did not resist, words you wish you could take back, opportunities you wasted.
And then comes that thought:
“A real Christian wouldn’t struggle like this.”
Then another:
“God must be tired of me.”
And finally:
“I’ll never be good enough to make it to heaven.”
Listen to me.
That last voice is lying to you.
The Bible gives Satan a name in Revelation:
“The accuser of our brethren.”
Revelation 12:10
That is what he does.
He accuses.
He points.
He reminds.
He whispers, “Look at you.”
But the gospel says:
Look at Jesus.
The devil wants your eyes fixed on everything wrong with you.
The gospel turns your eyes toward everything that is right with Christ.
And there is a world of difference between those two things.
Now don’t misunderstand me.
Sin matters.
Repentance matters.
Obedience matters.
Jesus never taught that we could live however we pleased and call it discipleship.
But conviction and condemnation are not the same thing.
The Spirit of God says: “Come back.”
The accuser says: “Stay away.”
The Spirit says: “Repent.”
The accuser says: “Why bother?”
Jesus says: “Come unto me.”
The devil says: “Not you. You’ve gone too far.”
Do you hear the difference?
One voice calls you toward Christ.
The other tries to convince you that Christ no longer wants you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1
No condemnation.
That does not mean no correction.
It does not mean no growth.
It does not mean no repentance.
It means that for the man or woman who belongs to Jesus Christ, your failures do not get to pronounce the final sentence over your soul.
Christ does.
And the One who will judge you is the same One who stretched out His hands and let nails be driven through them for you.
Think about that.
The Judge is also the Savior.
The King is also the Lamb.
The One who knows every sin you’ve committed is the very One who went to the cross to redeem you from them.
And some Christian is still saying:
“But Joseph, you don’t know what I’ve done.”
No.
I don’t.
But Jesus does.
And He knew before He went to Calvary.
Your worst day did not take Him by surprise.
Your weakness did not suddenly appear after the cross.
Your failures were not some unforeseen technicality in the plan of salvation.
He knew.
And He came anyway.
“Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
John 6:37
Read that again.
I will in no wise cast out.
So when the accuser tells you:
“You’ve come back too many times.”
Jesus says:
Come.
When the accuser says:
“You promised God you wouldn’t do that again.”
Jesus says:
Come.
When the accuser says:
“You ought to be ashamed to pray after what you did.”
Jesus says:
Come.
That does not excuse the sin.
It tells you where to take it.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16
Did you notice when we are supposed to come?
In time of need.
Not after we’ve fixed ourselves.
Not after we’ve cleaned up enough to impress heaven.
Not after we’ve gone thirty straight days without making a mistake.
When you need mercy —
come for mercy.
When you need grace —
come for grace.
When you’re weak —
come weak.
That’s what the throne is there for.
The devil has pulled a cruel trick on many sincere Christians.
He has convinced them that grace is something they should only need occasionally.
So when they discover they still need it every day, they assume something is wrong with them.
No, sir.
Grace is not God’s emergency backup plan for unusually bad Christians.
Grace is the plan.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8
A gift.
You do not stand before God someday boasting:
“Look how perfectly I performed.”
If heaven depended upon your flawless record, there would have been no need for a cross.
We stand because Christ stood in our place.
We live because He lives.
We are forgiven because He paid a price we could never pay.
And now I want to talk directly to the accuser for a minute.
You’ve told God’s children long enough that they’re too dirty to pray.
You’ve told them they’re too weak to serve.
You’ve told them they’re too inconsistent to be loved.
You’ve taken every stumble and tried to turn it into a prophecy about their future.
No, sir.
You do not get to take a forgiven man’s past and use it to cancel Christ’s promise.
You do not get to tell a daughter of God that the blood of Jesus reaches everybody except her.
You do not get to stand beside the cross and announce that grace has run out.
No, sir.
The cross already answered you.
The empty tomb already answered you.
Jesus Christ already answered you.
Now, Christian, hear me.
You may still have changing to do.
So do I.
You may still have habits to overcome.
Keep fighting.
You may need to confess something.
Confess it.
You may need to make something right.
Make it right.
You may fall tomorrow.
Get back up.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
1 John 1:9
It does not say He is reluctant.
It says He is faithful.
You keep coming to Christ.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Not because sin does not matter.
But because Christ matters more.
Remember the prodigal son.
That boy rehearsed his failure all the way home.
He knew what he had done.
He knew he had wasted what his father gave him.
He had his speech prepared.
But Jesus tells us that while the son was still a great way off, his father saw him.
And ran.
The boy came home thinking:
“I am no more worthy.”
The father was already bringing out the robe.
The ring.
The shoes.
The feast.
Do you see it?
The son came rehearsing his unworthiness.
The father answered with belonging.
Some of you have been standing outside your Father’s house because the accuser convinced you that you are not worthy to knock.
I’m telling you:
Go home.
Pray again.
Open your Bible again.
Walk through the church doors again.
Take Christ at His word again.
Repent again.
Trust again.
Hope again.
You are not saved because you finally became strong enough that you no longer needed Jesus.
You are saved because Jesus is strong enough to save people who desperately need Him.
“He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6
God is not finished with you.
Maybe that’s the word somebody needed today.
God is not finished with you.
Your story is not over because you stumbled.
Your testimony is not counterfeit because you’ve struggled.
Your prayers are not disqualified because you needed forgiveness again.
If you are still turning toward Jesus Christ, keep turning.
If you are crawling toward Him, crawl.
If all you can do today is whisper His name —
whisper it.
But don’t believe the accuser when he tells you that heaven has closed its doors.
Jesus said:
“I will in no wise cast out.”
And I believe Him.
So lift your head.
Not because you have finally become good enough.
Lift your head because Jesus Christ is good enough.
And His mercy is greater than your failure.
His grace is greater than your weakness.
His sacrifice is greater than your sin.
And the accuser —
the accuser does not get the last word.
Jesus does.
— Joseph Young