The late theologian R.C. Sproul wrote, “If God did not punish sin, He would not be just. And if He were not just, He would not be God.” We can take great comfort in knowing that God is just and ultimately will make things right.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 21 that plays to our desire for justice. Listen this week for the powerful application of this story.

It doesn’t matter what’s on your list of sins, everything you’ve done wrong has been nailed to the cross. When you surrender your life to Jesus, the One who endured the penalty of your sin, God is willing to have your entire debt paid in full by applying Jesus' death to your burden of past sins.

On our own, our moral debt is so enormous that we are helpless and hopelessly unable to pay for what we owe. But God completely forgives us through Jesus and His death on the cross to pay that debt!

We don’t have to ‘clean up our act’ in order to earn God’s love. The truth is God loved us before we ever loved Him. And that love sent Him to the cross on our behalf.

In John 3:16, we read “For God so loved the world.” His love is for everyone, and he lavishes his love on us. He is generous with His Love without us having to do anything to earn it or deserve it.

We see from the teachings of Jesus that lost people are valued and loved by God. If God has the capacity to look beyond the sins of the people gathered around Jesus and deeply love and treasure them, then He can look beyond your sins and love and treasure you.

We must continually strive for Christ-like character. People who are pursuing spiritual growth are marked by a transformed character. God wants us to experience spiritual metamorphosis resulting in spiritual maturity.

Good relationships involve getting to know others. The same is true for growing in our relationship with Jesus. We must spend time with Him through Bible reading and prayer.

Difficult times produce our greatest spiritual growth. We have to persevere through challenges because maturity doesn’t come without effort.