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treasure2For the record, I say “awesome” all the time, so much so, people have sent me synonyms begging me to find a new word. Even hubby and the kids roll their eyes. I have never said anything so cheesy as “awesome sauce,” not ever. That all changed recently when some guy decided to slay the word on social media.  Hey, the 90’s called, they want their phrase back. He decided to state, “thou shall not ever say awesome sauce.”

That’s legalism for you. There I was, joyfully bopping around, fully trusting I was filled with “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ,” when suddenly I find myself unwittingly saying “awesome sauce” all over the place. It just kept slipping out and no wonder, too. It was all I was thinking about, focusing on, trying to avoid doing.

It’s really interesting, but what we focus on, what we invest our energy in, how we perceive ourselves, influences our behavior. If one is saved by grace, fully walking in the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and perceives oneself as fully loved, wholly forgiven, one begins to act that way. It is simply inevitable.

If instead we perceive ourselves as having to earn God’s love, as always failing to meet some standard, as always struggling to avoid breaking any rules, that’s how we start to walk, too.  Worse, we have a tendency to suddenly start noticing other people are epic fails too, and to constantly point that out to them.

C.H. Spurgeon seems to agree with me for he once said, “It is a notable fact as to men, that if they are forbidden to do a thing they straightway pine to do it, though they had never thought of doing it before. Law commands obedience, but does not promote it; it often creates disobedience, and an over-weighted penalty has been known to provoke an offence. Law fails, but love wins.”

Click his name if you like. His whole sermon is simply, well, awesome sauce.

 

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