His Mercy, Not Our Merit
Back when Saturday Night Live was actually funny, there was a segment called “Daily affirmations with Stuart Smalley.” Smalley’s “affirmations” were hilarious satires of self-help psychology. One of the most ridiculous was the encouragement to affirm one’s value by saying aloud: “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” Great satire is the kind that is painfully close to reality.
Because we can really be that silly. We can think that our value is tied to our reputation or our usefulness or our parenting. But character, ability, or performance can be taken away in a moment. We sin, we fail, we disappoint.
In reality, the most important thing about us has to do with Jesus. Our sister, Jean Swenson, grasped this with great clarity. In her words, her disability gave her a remarkable ability — to know that at the very bottom, her value was completely unrelated to her physical limitations, or her personal accomplishments, or the consistency of her attitude.
She was precious in the sight of God because he loved her. It was his character, not her capacity. Her value was grounded in the mystery of God’s mercy, the unmerited favor of his grace, the immeasurable love displayed in the cross of Christ. His mercy, not our merit. His grace, not our goodness. Therefore our daily affirmation ought to be “I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough, but doggone it, God loves me.” Let’s pray together.
Prayer of Confession
Heavenly Father, we confess that we often view ourselves more highly than we ought. We fall into the trap of thinking that our value is conditioned by something in us — our purity or wisdom or usefulness. We acknowledge that by believing this, we attempt to receive the glory that truly belongs to you, alone.
Therefore, we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not seen and given thanks to you for the immeasurable riches of your kindness to us in Jesus. And these sins bear fruit in our failure to love one another in light of the love of Christ. Have mercy on us and forgive us as we confess these and other sins to you in this time of silent confession.