READ: MATTHEW 5:21-22; JAMES 2:10; ROMANS 3:23-24

Every year in the college basketball tournament called March Madness, four sets of teams, numbered one to sixteen, are assigned to play each other. In each of the first sets, number 16 plays number 1, number 15 plays number 2, etc. It seems each game should be easy to predict. Just pick the better ranked team. But watching a lower-ranked team beat a higher-ranked team is why the tournament is so much fun. And it’s why nobody has ever predicted all the paths to the championship game.

Something unique to March Madness is that the loser in each game goes home. That’s right. One loss and you’re out. Imagine the same rule applied to other sports. In baseball, you lose one game and your team is out for the season. In football, one loss and it’s see you next fall. Talk about pressure! What if the same rule applied in high school? One word spelled wrong in an essay. One error in a geometric proof. There go your chances for graduation, much less college admission.

We can all be glad that life is usually not that severe. But God is. Not because He’s mean, but because He’s perfect. What are the odds of living a sinless life? Only one person ever has: Jesus, the Son of God. Sin can be thought, word, or deed. It’s easy for me not to murder someone. Harder to not get verbally angry. But even harder to not have a bad thought. Not one. Ever.

My only hope is Jesus. He died on the cross so that God could declare me sinless. Because I’m not. He died so that God could declare you sinless. Because you’re not. But He loves us, and Jesus came to die and rise again because God wants to forgive us so that we can be with Him forever. All we have to do is put our trust in Jesus as Lord. • Carol Raj

• We all sin many times a day, and in fact, we’re all born sinners (Psalm 51:5). Yet, if we know Jesus, all our sins are forgiven—past, present, and future. God has justified us and declared us righteous because of Jesus’s shed blood. What’s more, we are now dead to sin and alive to the Holy Spirit! That means sin doesn’t have to overpower us. And when Jesus returns, we won’t struggle with sin anymore. But until then, God calls us to confess our sin to Him often. While it’s impossible to confess every single sin, it’s good to take time to remember Jesus’s sacrifice for us and the power He gives us to turn away from sin and back toward Him (Psalm 19:12-14). Consider taking a moment to confess any sins that come to mind and thank God for His grace.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (CSB)