God's Report Card?

Report cards are coming soon.  Woo hoo!  For some this is good news, for some it’s not!  Here’s an interesting question: How would you rate on God’s report card?  Does that make you squeamish?  When we read verses that say things like “don’t be conformed any longer to the patterns of this world” we quickly feel a flash of guilt for all the ways we don’t do the right thing.  When you read the Bible do you feel God’s report card flying at you?  Maybe you’re not at Fs, but, if you’re honest, you’re not at an A either.

Here’s the deal: if you like living under a report card system, then go live in the Old Testament.  In fact, just go live in this very world.  We are constantly being judged by our accomplishments.  It’s hard in any season of life, but especially as a teen.  Everything about the teen world is about measuring up.  Grades now “count.”  Your future college and/or career choices are at hand.  You want to earn scholarships.  You want to impress the right people.  You want to earn the right position on your sports team, in the band, or a role in a play.  Even social media does this.  How many texts do you get compared to the next person who seems to always be checking their phone.

But I say, “Don’t be conformed any longer to the patterns of this world.”  One of those patterns is to be judged by a report card.  In biblical words, you are no longer under the Law.  First Corinthians 13 says “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”  Who is love?  1 John says “God is love” and therefore, God keeps no record of wrongs.  You are free.  You live within love. 

Our immediate response, often, to this is “If God isn’t judging me anymore because He loves me, then why do the right thing?”  The answer is that you don’t understand love.  There are only two reasons to live out ‘good’ behaviors.  Fear or love.  If you do good stuff because you’re afraid of God, or of what will happen, or of what people think of you, you’ll look good to people, but you’re just a shell of a person.  But people  in love find themselves acting differently because love does that. 

So, trash the report card.  God doesn’t have one for you anyway.  It’s more likely you who made the report card.  Just ditch it.