Why Does My Wife Restack the Dishwasher?

If I don’t stack the dishwasher, I get in trouble.  But if I do stack the dishwasher, my wife re-stacks it!

I can never get it right!

So I simply give up. Instead, I eat over the sink so there are no dishes to wash up.

Maybe it’s the same with us and God.

We know God wants us to be good people. But we can’t ever be good enough for this God.

So we give up.

Maybe we go to church once or twice, and hope God notices, and that will make up for what we haven’t done.

But that’s the wrong view of God.

We don’t have to make ourselves good enough for God. It’s the other way around. God makes us good enough for him.

So stop trying to be good enough for God. Because it will be too hard – we will soon give up.

Instead, humble ourselves, give ourselves to God. He loves us just the way we are. But he’s also going to make us into the person he wants us to be.

A person who doesn’t re-stack their partner’s dishes.

Luke 18:9-14

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

About the Author: Sam is a theologian, preacher, author, evangelist, ethicist, cultural analyst and medical doctor.

Article supplied to 96five with thanks to Espresso Theology.

Feature image: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash