READ Romans 3
The world stands guilty before God, and can only be forgiven through Christ.

INSIGHT
There are several commonly held misconceptions about how God evaluates the deeds of people. One idea is that as long as we don’t do anything “terrible,” God will overlook our “little” sins. Another is that God weighs all our good works on one side of a scale and all our bad works on the other. If the good outweighs the bad, we’re okay. A third incorrect notion is that God lines up all the people who have ever lived from the best to the worst and then divides them in half. If you make the cut, you’re okay. The truth the Bible teaches is that God demands sinlessness. And since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all people are condemned. There is only one way out: Receive Jesus as your personal Savior. Through Him, all your sins can be forgiven.

PRAYER
Offer your praise to the Lord for His grace and salvation:
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
To sing praise to your name, Most High,  
To declare your faithful love in the morning
And your faithfulness at night
To declare, “The Lord is just;
He is my rock,
And there is no unrighteousness in him.”
(Psalm 92:1-2, 15).

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
And you have forgotten the exhortation
That addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
Or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves
And punishes every son he receives
(Hebrews 12:5-6).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

• A stronger desire to be like Christ
• Churches across the nation
• Your activities for the day

Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation about Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept silent for long ages to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ — to him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 16:25, 27).