Gospel

When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know al my punishment fell on Jesus and that he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial. When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a 'good person.' My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God's love for me in Christ. I can take criticism-but it's not easy. That's how I became a Christian. My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can't look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by Grace I am what I am. I have many good things in my life- family, friends, school, sports, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost...Adapted from Time Keller.
'We cannot escape the embarrassment of standing stark naked before God. It is no use for us to try to cover up like Adam and Eve in the garden. Our attempts at self-justification are as ineffectual as their fig leaves. We have to asknowledge our nakedness, se the divine substitute wearing our filthing rags instead of us, and allow him to clothe us with his own righteousness.'