I have a theory. I can’t prove this, I have no statistics or other evidence to substantiate this. It’s only a theory as to why so many Christians feel like God is disappointed in them.
God is an authority figure. He’s actually THE ultimate authority figure — we can all agree to that. And for most of our lives, authority figures are in the business of evaluating our performances and rewarding us or not based on those performances.
Mom says if you eat your peas, she’ll give you a piece of cake. Your teacher says if you write a good report, she’ll give you an ‘A.’ Your coach says if you catch all the passes in practice, he’ll make you a starter. Your boss says if you surpass all the company goals, he’ll give you a raise. Our lives are determined by these authority figures who judge our performances and decide to reward us or not based on those performances. So we go through live managing to perform and please the right people and receive the rewards with varying levels of success and failure.
But when it comes to God, we know we don’t stack up. Ever. We are not holy, we are not perfect. Not even close. And our performance never has and never will measure up to our God’s divine standards. So God has to be disappointed.
My mom is disappointed when I don’t clean up my plate. My teacher is disappointed when I flunk the English test. My coach is disappointed when I miss the block. And my boss is disappointed when I don’t hit my numbers. So, God… I know how God feels.
Just a theory.
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies! Who is he that condemns?” ~Romans 8:33-34
Who is it? Who’s condemning you and making you feel this way? The devil? Your friends? Your enemies? Your own past, your sins, your feelings, your experiences with other authority figures?
“It is God who justifies! Who is he that condemns?”
“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~Romans 8:38-39
God does not want us to feel condemned, but convinced. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:1). We are not condemned by God’s judgment, we are convinced of his great love.
Peace,
Allan
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