I will never forget what my 4-year-old grandson, Logan, said to the waitress that night in the restaurant. (He’s 10 now.)
As everyone with small children knows, public dining can oftentimes be a less than pleasurable experience—especially when our pint-sized dinner companions aren’t getting their own way and/or it’s close to their bedtime.
This particular evening, though, proved to be quite entertaining.
You know, little kids sometimes say the darndest things.
So much so, parents and grandparents purchase special journals to preserve these rib-tickling treasures for years to come.
My daughter-in-law bought one to record the hilarious things that Logan said since he first started talking.
I’m not sure if she wrote down what he said to the waitress taking our order that night, but I will never forget it.
“I want two ketchups, awot of fwench fwies, and two corn dogs!”
Clearly amused by his response, the waitress said, “You are soooo cute!”
Logan gave her a serious look and matter-of-factly replied, “I’m not that cute.”
We all busted out laughing at his surprising response.
Nothing like a little pre-dinner humor to prepare the palate.
Two days later, while making my bed, I was still thinking about what Logan said.
He wasn’t trying to be funny when said that.
He was dead serious.
It made me kind of sad that he didn’t agree with the waitress’s estimation of his cuteness quotient.
But when you think about it, his response isn’t that different from most Christians’ when we’re told that we are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB
Father God clearly says that believers in Christ are “the righteousness of God in His Son.”
Christian, you are as righteous as His Son, Jesus.
You are cut from the same bolt of spiritual material as Jesus Christ.
You may want to argue with this Scripture, but you are going to lose if you do.
It’s your opinion against God’s Word.
Imagine how Father God feels when we stare at these words in disbelief and say, “I’m not that righteous.”
We have the truth about our new identity right there in black and white.
We weigh what God’s Word says against our feelings and our behavior and surmise that God’s Word couldn’t possibly be true.
In short, we just don’t agree with what Father God says about our “righteousness quotient.”
Not good.
Why don’t we decide today to stop giving more credibility to our feelings than we do to what the God of the universe says about those who are in His Son?
God says we are as righteous as His Son, Jesus Christ, because we are in Him.
Instead of saying, “I certainly don’t feel like I am as righteous as Jesus,” when Father God reminds us of the truth about who we eternally are, why don’t we say, “Wow!” and “Thank You, Lord!” and then live like He is telling the truth?
If you need the truth that you are forever the righteousness of God in His Son to go deep, check out my post, “You Are Righteous and Holy through Faith, Not Works.”
If you enjoyed this post, then I think you would enjoy both of my books where I share the undiluted, unpolluted love and grace of God.
I love the correlation you made here! And yes, I would probably respond badly if someone told me that. I’m thinking a red-faced deflection is what you’d get from me. You’re right though….it’s there in black and white, and I need to begin to believe it.
Thank you for your honest comment, Carolyn. I believe most Christians would respond in this way. I did the first time I heard this teaching on 2 Corinthians 5:21. (I think my chin dropped to the floor.) Our brains are hard-wired to equate righteousness with behavior, rather than identity. We have to remind ourselves continuously that we don’t get our identity from what we do, but who Christ made us to be in Him. And, when we begin to see ourselves as we truly are, righteous behavior will be the outflow with Christ’s power as its source.