“You Are Special”
by Alma Kern

Jesus Paid the Price

Dear Lord,

You know: I love you.
I try to be good
I try not to hurt anyone.
I help other people.
I live a good, clean life.
I've been baptized and confirmed.
I'm a good church member.
I do the best I can under the circumstances.
I do some wrong things, but
I try to make up for them.
I'm not perfect. Nobody is!
What do You expect?
Perfection?
But I can't be perfect!
When I look at the list above, they all start the same:

I….I….I… Too often I put me where You ought to be—

In the center of my life.
I need to remind myself:
My salvation does not rest on me.
It's impossible to save myself.
When I look at Jesus, I see what You are like.
Your're great and good. You are loving .
But You are also just and You demand obedience.
When I look at Jesus' faultless life,
I see what You expect of me.
His goodness arouses in me
A sense of my guilt, my shortcomings.
He also awakens in me a spirit of thanksgiving and praise.
I thank and praise You, Jesus, for delivering me
From the penalty and power of my sin.
You did what was impossible for me to do for myself.
Father, You have redeemed me with the precious blood of
Jesus. In response to Your love
I'll live in a way that brings glory to Your name.
Help me in my struggle to love You more,
To help others and not hurt them, to live a good, clean
Life, to be a good church member and always to do
The best I can.
Forgive my failures to live up to Your expectations.
I know I'm not perfect, Lord. But I rejoice that I'm forgiven.

Your grateful child.