Who wouldn’t move heaven and earth to rescue the people they love from slavery and death? If you and I would do this, imagine how much more God Himself would and has. Just as God heard the children of Israel crying because they were slaves in Egypt, He heard our cries in our slavery to sin. We were under the control of an Enemy we could never defeat, helpless to free ourselves. And our ultimate fate was death. But God sent Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins, and His blood breaks the power of sin and death and frees us to become servants of the one true God, who loves us.

In Jesus, we are forgiven. God declares us to be righteous just as Christ is righteous. There is power in the blood of Jesus to re-create us into a family of freed, forgiven, righteous people. We could never earn this new status. Instead, it is God’s gift to us in Christ.

What are some ways God’s gift of freedom, forgiveness and righteousness in Christ attacks your sense of pride?