At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ends with a warning: our obedience to his Word is what makes us true disciples. While most of us would agree with this idea, few of us live it out. We’re either too afraid of becoming legalists, too obsessed with information alone, or too unwilling to humble ourselves and live out what we read. In each of these cases, we fall short of the blessing of being formed into a person of love.

But the cross frees us from falling short.

By accepting this gift of grace from God, we have freedom from earning God’s love. And by embracing this freedom we’re able to truly live out God’s commands and experience the transformative power of His word.