As two convicts were being escorted to trial, one turned to the other and pleaded: ‘I’m a good bloke! I’ve helped so many people! I’m a respectable citizen! Ya gotta believe me!’ The fellow convict replied: ‘Why you telling me? Even if I believe you’re the “Humanitarian of the Year”, it ain’t gonna help one bit with the judge.’

Why do we feel compelled to justify our spiritual lives to fellow believers? When we die, we give an account to God alone. Most Christians know this, yet still vainly justify their actions to peers in an attempt to be respectable. The truth is people will think what they want – no matter what we do or say. Just because people think the worst of us, doesn’t mean God does. Alternatively, just because we have convinced many people we’re saints – doesn’t mean God agrees. Being right with people isn’t the same as being right with God. We are all sinners, God judges us on the basis of the Cross, grace and His perfect works, not on our relative righteousness. (Isaiah 64:6) A great burden is lifted when we stop trying to justify ourselves and hold ourselves accountable solely to God. There is no need to worry about Him misunderstanding us. He knows the truth – and that very fact should ‘set us free’. (John 8:32)