Romans 3:22b-24

Butterfly, Shark Valley Visitor's Area, Everglades National Park, July 2013 

For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Romans 3:22b-24

We look to another to weigh and measure,
to see if we are at least as good, if not better, we judging freely.
We seek a place in the world without guilt to nag us,
so we can focus on other things more important. 
But here is the bitter truth:
our sin is our death, and we sin daily, 
and sin is measured neither by degrees,
nor as compared to our neighbor or the newspaper's front page
or the banner headline across the screen.
Leaving self-justfication behind, 
the endless work of trying to be good enough and failing, 
and miserably so,
humbly we find redemption in being found by God
in Christ,
whose grace is more than sufficient,
God's love filling us, freeing us to love our neighbor, 
rather than fixing them somewhere below us.