I grew up in a very conservative Lutheran family.  Due to my deep sense of justice and wrong or right, I took a particular Lutheran teaching to heart and deviated from it in my mind.  For some reason, growing up, I felt like God the Father was a judge and only a judge.  I felt like Jesus was there to save us from His Father, never one who's purpose was to renew us to His Father.  When Praise was born, all of my misconceptions came crashing toward me and proclaimed to me, "It's all true, God your Father is judging you for not being xyz."  There was a desire to run from God, not toward Him.  It's taken quite a few years to come to see God as a good Father.  I

I recently read a book called "Because He Loves Me" by Elyse Fitzpatrick.  One particular passage in it just struck me in a such a way that I'm still in disbelief that grace could be so broad and so vast.  Here's the starting point; "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor 5:21  Now, I've always thought this righteousness was God not seeing our sin and seeing His perfect son.  Yes, it's that, but so much more.  SO MUCH MORE.  Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, when God looks upon me, He sees Jesus' perfect obedience which means among other things that I am a person who

• always does the things that are pleasing to him;
• is so focused on accomplishing his will and work that doing so is my daily bread
• lives in such a way that my life brings holiness to others;
• lives in such a way that the people around me know that I love my heavenly Father above all else.

There's still this part of me that wants to work for approval.  It seems to easy.  My brain is telling me, "Yes that's all good and fine, but you know you're not like that - you need to work at it!"  I'm not all of the above.  But God sees me as if I am.  Grace is scandalous.