1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners– of whom I am the worst.
Since we’re at the beginning of the new school year and new youth group year (whatever that is), I’m thinking of doing just a few devotionals on what I’d hope our youth group can be this year…or better yet, what God’s own Word says about the kind of group we ought to be.
So here’s the first thing I hope our group can become – a group that learns to despise itself. Yeah, a little weird, I know. Let me explain. What I really want most for everyone in the youth group is for them to be completely captivated by the beauty of Christ. I’ll be the first to admit there are times when Christ isn’t all that captivating to me. Sure I’ll say some prayers, thank Him for a few things, see if He can’t help me out in a few areas I’m struggling with…but I’m not really all that fascinated with Him or in awe of Him the way I should be – the way He deserves. And you wanna know the reason, it’s most often because I’m too captivated with myself. No, it’s not necessarily that I think I’m the most beautiful person in the world or the most brilliant or anything like that (okay, sometimes), it’s more that I just generally think I’m a pretty decent person. I’m a nice person, I do nice things, I smile a lot – that sort of thing. Basically, I’m just content the way I am, I guess you could say.
The problem is of course, if I’m fine just the way I am, Jesus didn’t need to die. There would be no reason for Jesus to come and give up His life the way He did if we’re all just fine by ourselves. Jesus came and died because He saw there was something terribly ugly in us, something so vile and corrupt, something so shameful and wicked, something that would only be healed if it were taken from us and placed on another.
Part of Christ’s beauty is His willingness to come and be that “other” for us. Part of His beauty is His unimaginable love and tender mercy that drove Him to come and die for our ugliness. Ahh, but if I don’t see my ugliness, I’m missing the whole reason He came and died. If I don’t see my sin for what it is and really come to hate it, the love and mercy of Christ are just nice, empty things to talk about in Sunday School that at the end of the day don’t mean too much.
Only when I fully see my sin and shame will I fully see…and be captivated by…the beauty of my Savior who came and gave everything so that I might become the radiant image of a child of God. And that’s the only real beauty I could ever hope for; not a beauty I have in myself, but a beauty I’m given by Jesus through His great love for me.
So in a world that tries so hard to make you feel good about yourself, I hope we can learn to despise ourselves a bit, despise all that’s not right in us (sin) and embrace the beauty of God who came and died so that one day, we too would share in His beauty, being completely free from the stain of sin.
