The Gospel is for Me (and You)
Have you ever gone into an experience thinking it will be cheesy, only to have your socks knocked off? A recent assignment during an amazing writing class was like that for me. We were asked to write a personal letter to someone we know explaining the gospel. Dozens of names came to mind. I settled on mine. That's right. I wrote a letter to myself about what Jesus did for me. It was a powerful experience. And it got me thinking, how many of God's children struggle to let the finished work of their Rescuer permeate their day to day lives?
An Opportunity
Something about putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) causes us to think deeply. You don't have to be a writer to benefit from such an activity. Really, to benefit from writing a gospel letter to yourself, you just need to be a saved sinner. We can tell its a good time to review the good news when:
-we are haunted by painful memories from the past
-our present is characterized by the stress of unattainable standards
-we are plagued by anxiety concerning the future
-we beat ourselves up when we blow it
-we find ourselves working hard to maintain God’s love
If any of those resonated with you, consider writing a letter to yourself about what Jesus has done for you. I've included my letter below for inspiration. Of course, since mine was for a class, I had to meet a word count and take time to polish it. But you don't! Forget about spelling and grammar. No one has to read it. It can be long or short, bullet points or paragraphs. There are no rules. Simply take the time to sit with Jesus, and let His Spirit unpack your past, present, and/or future. Let Him show you what He did for you. He just may use it to propel you into the joy and freedom He saved you to enjoy.
My Letter
Dear Stacie,
Four times around the sun hardly seems long enough to grasp something as powerful as the Gospel. But, by God’s grace, you did. At just four, you understood both your need of a Savior and how Jesus answered the need. Sadly, as the decades passed, the simplicity and power of God’s plan to rescue you became slowly obscured. Lately, his Spirit has been systematically breaking down the lies holding your heart captive from experiencing the full freedom of life in Christ. This letter is meant to be a sort of Christmas Carol experience, where we can wander down memory lane, stopping at a few key points along the way to explore and apply the Gospel.
As a child, your sincere faith was precious. Though unencumbered by the worries and doubts that plague you now, it also lacked the ability to apply the finished work of Jesus to real life. Remember what you did that time you hurt your brother in anger? You took out your sketchbook, marked the date, scribbled angry swirls, then scrawled across the page: YOU HURT YOUR BROTHER. You wanted to remember, thinking if you could hold on to the shock and guilt, then you might not ever do something so evil again. Then, you taped the page shut so no one could stumble upon it and expose your shame.
But what you failed to realize was Jesus had already paid for that angry deed on the cross. In that moment, he was standing before God interceding for you, applying his perfect blood and removing your sin from you—as far as the east is from the west. Your young mind may have never heard the word “condemnation,” but it sure felt it. By the power of the Gospel, though, there is no condemnation for you! Not from God, not from people. Not then, not now, not ever! In fact, even now, he still chooses not to remember. God sent Jesus to drain his wrath and the Holy Spirit to seal you as his own.
As you grew, so did your passion for Jesus. You learned to love the Word, to worship, and to serve. Your life goal was to bring God glory. Then, your freshman year of college happened. You squandered it on a mediocre dating relationship and countless movie marathons with people you didn’t even like. At the end of summer you were left picking up the pieces. Remember that afternoon in early September? Sitting alone in the chair at your parents’ house, you wondered if there was grace for you. Though you had been quick to speak truth to the campers you counseled that summer, it somehow felt different for you. The truth of the Gospel was twisted in your mind. Subconsciously you believed that mercy is new every morning, except for those who knew better, but wandered anyway.
But that is not the Gospel. The Gospel is about a Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Then, though he has ninety-nine other sheep happily heeding his voice, he pursues the one who wandered off. One seemingly insignificant sheep. One little sheep that knew better, but wandered anyway. Sitting alone in the chair that day, you thought you deserved a lecture and perhaps some harsh consequences. You did not yet grasp the depths of the Gospel. Your Good Shepherd was calling all of heaven to rejoice with him as he guided you gently back.
The next couple of years flew by like a blink but included a giant life transition—from single and loving it to married and struggling. Oh how the Gospel could have eased the sting of that first year for you! All through your life you had been able to achieve the goals you set for yourself. As a student, a runner, a kingdom builder, all it took was hard work and a smile. You expected being a wife to be no different. Then the honeymoon ended. For the first time ever, your hard work and smile weren’t enough to propel you toward success. You felt like a failure. Your husband didn’t see it that way. More importantly, neither did your God. But you were so busy pursuing your ideal of a good wife, you forgot to pursue the original lover of your soul. If you had, who knows the whispers he would have offered to calm your troubled spirit. He would have shown you the standard you were striving for was not from him. Most of your feelings of failure stemmed from breaking your own law, not his. And the times you actually failed by breaking his law? He would have shown you how he had already fulfilled it on your behalf and was now offering you his free gift of forgiveness and joy-filled life. Imagine the stress and self-loathing that would have evaporated if the Gospel had permeated deeply into your heart.
They say people are like sponges and the stress of life is a squeezing hand. Whatever comes out of the sponge when the hand tightens cannot be blamed on the hand. It was already inside. Nothing has ever squeezed you as tightly as mothering four sons. The filth that has erupted out of you is ugly. Even scary. But it is also covered by the blood of Jesus. In his mercy, he has brought you to the end of yourself. Your brokenness and limitations are an invitation to explore the infinite depths of his grace. Your exposed weakness highlights the triumphant beauty of the Gospel. Drink deep, love. Stop trying to be good and embrace the truth that Jesus has clothed you in his own goodness. Replace self-reformation with simply beholding your Savior. As you do, he will work the transformation you long for. May the tension in your brow give way to inexpressible joy as you plumb the depths of the Gospel.
In truth and grace,
Stacie
Your Turn
Here is the one bit of advice I'll leave you with. Don't try this apart from Jesus. The reason this was so impactful in my life, is because the Holy Spirit brought to my mind both the memories and the verses. I believe He is eager to guide all His children into a rich, personal understanding of the gospel. Invite Him into the process. What are you waiting for?
