I rarely take a good picture. At least in my judgment. (And I'm not fishing for compliments. I bet you're the same way.) As soon as I see the photo, I immediately notice a weird half-smile, or an unflattering fold here and there, or my hair wasn't right, or my eyes were droopy… There's an endless list. Now, my husband rarely sees the same flaws I see. (He's a good guy, and very smart. 😉 ) When he looks at the same photo, he uses eyes of love and grace.
We often view our appearance, our performance with eyes of law and judgment. We immediately see where we missed a mark, where we fall short, where we don't measure up. And we assume God views us the same way.
Romans 8:1 says "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (NAS) The "therefore" goes back to Paul's lengthy discussion of how God saved us by His grace in chapters 1-7. No condemnation. No "you could've done that a little better". No "I expected a little more from you". No "do we really have to go over this again?"
That's how God sees us in Christ. No eyes of law and judgment. Only eyes of grace.
Me too! Writing about it helps ME remember it!
I need this reminder so often, because this is such an issue with me. Using the picture as a framework for this reminder was a great idea. This is a great post that lots of people need to see.