10as it is written,“ There is none righteous, not even one;
Romans 3:10 (NASB)
I can cook well enough, meats, vegetables, sauces and the like but I cannot bake. I haven’t learned how to be precise enough in the kitchen to bake to the level I’d like. I tried to learn to bake cakes once but had to stop. To the point, I was asked to stop by my family who had grown tired of eating cake. At the time I had six test cakes on the counter, none of them looked like what I wanted but they all tasted fine.
Some of my cakes were lopsided. Some of the things I baked were slightly overcooked. Some of the cakes even fell apart into chunks or crumbs. None of them even closely resembled the image in the cook book I was using. Oh, I had followed the recipes correctly, measured my ingredients, mixed and poured, etc. They tasted good, they just didn’t look right. There can be a very clear difference between a cake that tastes good and one that looks right.
In your life people have mistreated you. If you draw breath this statement is true. At some point in life someone has treated you badly. For some of us that happens more frequently for others. The point being we have all been mistreated at some point or other.
In your life you have mistreated someone. If you draw breath this statement is true. At some point in life you did not behave as you should have toward someone and treated them badly. For some of us we mistreat people more frequently than others. The point being we have all mistreated someone at some point or other.
You are still a good person.
You are not a righteous person, but you are a good person.
Yes, I believe that and I do not believe that statement is in contradiction to the Romans scripture above. Good does not equal righteous. They are not the same thing.
People, like the cake, can taste good, that is to say try to treat others as they would like to be treated. However, people, like the cake, can fail to look like the image of what they were meant to be. What makes the difference between a cake that tastes good but doesn’t look right and a person who is good, but doesn’t act as he or she was intended to act is simple. Free will. The cake cannot chose to be a pie, but the person can and does make choices between good things and bad things.
A popular video game from several years ago called Portal declared, “The cake is a lie!” This is the source for the internet meme, which do you like more cake or pie (I like pie by the way)? The idea that a person can ever be fully righteous is a lie, but that shouldn’t stop us from striving to make better choices in our lives. The real question is upon what source will we each use as our touchstone for deciding what defines a good choice and a bad choice? Regardless, you will make some bad choices in your life. Do not give up or be discouraged though as long as you keep talking with God about those choices. He will stick with you through the good decisions and the bad ones because He thinks You Are Worthy.
Questions for Reflection
- What makes something ‘Good’ and what makes something ‘Righteous’?
- If someone fails to make a choice that is ‘good’ does that make them ‘bad’? Why or why not?
- Which do you like more, cake or pie?
This devotional relates to the scripture used in the book You Are Worthy by Mark Malcolm, coming to Kindle soon. To be kept up to date on the release of this, and other writings from The Cavalier, join us on Facebook HERE or follow us on Twitter @FirstChevalier.
You are not trash. You are not wasted. You are not broken. You are loved. You are pursued. You are wanted. Because God says…
