Not Condemned

Crawling into bed, I snuggled under the blankets as clouds filled my
mind. “Another day I’ve messed up,” I thought, tears filling my eyes. “When
will I ever get it right?” Despair filled my mind, making sleep impossible.
I wanted to pray, but I was too scared to do it. Why would God want to
listen to me after I had failed Him for the umpteenth time? I could just
picture Him shaking His head with a groan as I stumbled forward to ask for
forgiveness… again.

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I pulled my knees into my chest, and pulled the covers around tighter.
Then, a voice spoke right to my heart… “Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” It was a ray of sunshine
from heaven. I had heard the verse (Romans 8:1) before, but never needed to
hear those words as much as I did then.

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God doesn’t expect perfection from His children—and He does not condemn us.
He knows that all humans sin, failing to love Him and one another (Matthew
22:37-40; Romans 3:23-24). Our sin grieves Him because He loves us and sin
hurts us, but He also understands the struggle we go through. More than
that, He gives us victory in our struggle—because His own Son, Jesus, lived
through the same struggles we now experience, and He defeated every
temptation. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we have His Spirit in us,
giving us that same power to resist sin.

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And even when we fail, not only does God understand, but He has already
forgiven us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. “Therefore, there
is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1,
emphasis added). As we come to Him, repenting from our sins and seeking His
help, He gladly gives it to us out of love. We don’t have to be afraid of
punishment because Jesus took our punishment upon Himself when He went to
the cross… and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).
So, through each struggle, temptation, sin, and failure, He is still there,
ready to help you through and ready to give you victory. • Lily Walsh

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• Do you ever feel like you’ve failed too many times to receive God’s
grace? How does today’s Bible passage speak into this?

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• How can knowing that God gives us victory through Christ give us hope,
especially when we fail? (If you want to dig deeper, read John 3:16-17;
Hebrews 4:14-16; and 1 John 4:18.)

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Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Rom.8.1-Rom.8.14