Doing It Better

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-20 (NIV)

Everybody wants to be so different that the pursuit of “difference” is creating distance from God. “Different” could be thinking the next job is going to make you happy, or the next relationship is going to make you happy, or the next house, the next car, the next job, the next pay raise, the next purchase—whatever it is.

You can mess around and make decisions that are so radically different that they fail to be healthy and sensible. What would benefit you more is to be better at what drives you to consider “difference” in the first place. Otherwise, all you do is mask your dysfunction until you decide you don’t need to do everything differently; you just need to submit yourself to do everything better: Be a better Christian, a better saint to Christ.

Maybe in the New Year you don’t need to start acting differently. Maybe in the New Year you need to start acting better. That’s the invitation extended to us as we hear Jesus’s words. Hear Him again: “I didn’t come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it.” It’s His way of saying, “I’m not trying to do spirituality differently. I’m on the scene to teach you how to do spirituality better.” 

Stop walking around thinking that the only answer for you is something different. The answer is to be better. You don’t need a different face, different hair, a different position, a different job. You need to look in the mirror and face the perception of who you already are in Jesus Christ.

God was willing to pay such a high price for us because, to Him, we are of extreme value. How valuable are we to God? We are so valuable that He gave His Son for our salvation! You don’t need to be different as much as you need to accept how valuable you already are to Him and live better in appreciation.

If you want to do life well, then make “doing better” a lived demonstration of gratitude for the life that God has given you.