If you have your Bible open to the book of Exodus, the words we just sang, ‘All my attempts to be satisfied were vain and empty,’ capture a reality we all experience—the tendency to seek satisfaction outside of what God has provided. Doesn’t it? I mean, we all long for something more.
We’ve been journeying with Israel from slavery to Mount Sinai, where God is shaping them into a people who depend on Him for everything. Throughout this journey, Israel has struggled with trust. They’ve struggled with contentment, and there’s been a lot of grumbling. Often, they’re reaching for what they think will bring them security, comfort, and fulfillment—outside of God’s provision. And this tendency doesn’t stop at the base of Mount Sinai. As God speaks the Commandment, ‘You shall not steal,’ He’s addressing the same heart conditions we face every day. It’s a reminder to us of our attempts to find satisfaction apart from what God has given us, and how we ultimately end up empty.
Today, we’re looking at the Eighth Commandment, which reads, ‘You shall not steal.’ As we look at this commandment, we see that God is calling us to honor His provision in our lives, to manage what He’s given us faithfully and responsibly, and, in turn, to respect what He has given others to manage. This commandment doesn’t just speak to our actions—it speaks to the condition of our hearts. It challenges us to find contentment and assurance in Christ, rather than in what we can acquire for ourselves.
I find this message especially fitting as we approach the Christmas season, a time when many people throw off all restraint when it comes to materialism. All our attempts to find satisfaction apart from God leave us empty. If that’s the case, then the answer must be found in something beyond acquiring more material possessions. God’s commandment, ‘You shall not steal,’ is a call to honor what He has entrusted to us and to find contentment in His provision—not in what we can grasp on our own.
So, I’m going to start with my first point, and we’re going to begin in the book of Genesis.
We are responsible to manage the things God has entrusted to us.
God has given every one of us something to manage. In the very first chapter of the Bible, when God creates human beings distinct from everything else, listen to the command He gives: after blessing them, He says,
“Be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth, and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living creature that moves on the Earth.”
The command here is that God has made human beings His representatives on Earth, and we are called to manage His creation. He has given us authority over it. Do you notice how we keep going back to the Book of Genesis with each commandment? It’s because God’s design for human beings comes from how He made us, and the Ten Commandments are rooted in that design.
God has given us what we have so we can learn to take care of it like He takes care of the world, showing wisdom, kindness, & responsibility. Are you showing the world how kind, wise, and responsible God is with the things He has entrusted to your care? Think of everything God has entrusted you with. He’s given you a body and health to manage for His glory, relationships that He’s placed in your life, whether you’re fully content with them or not. He’s given you talents, skills, and time—you only have so much of that in this world, and it all comes from God. He’s also given you resources, and He calls you to use and develop them as His manager.
These are areas where you can show responsibility, mirroring the care God shows in creation. God believes in ownership. This command, “You shall not steal,” implies that the Bible supports the idea of private ownership. Ownership allows us to steward what God has given us, to be creative, to make improvements, and to take responsibility—all of which mirror God’s role in creation.
Take a moment to think about the things God has placed in your care: consider your relationships, those you rely on and those who rely on you. Are you glorifying God in those relationships? Think about the skills and talents God has given you—yes, maybe you went to college to develop them, but who gave you the brain to do it? Reflect on the resources you have—money, time, opportunities. Are you using these wisely and generously?
Sometimes we might feel that something is missing in our lives. But if you feel that way, are you seeking what’s missing in a way that honors God? Or are you making excuses and taking shortcuts that dishonor Him? Sometimes God allows us to go without what we want to test the integrity of our hearts—will we trust Him? As James 1:3-4 says, “the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
You have been designed by God to get deep joy & satisfaction from meaningful, productive work. Work is not a curse from God; it’s been affected by sin, but work itself is not a curse. You have been designed to find deep and meaningful satisfaction in it. Even a stay-at-home mother, who cares for her children, works—and often much harder than a dad who’s out earning a paycheck. There is great satisfaction in that, even though it’s hard.
We’re not designed for a life of unending ease but to engage deeply with our God-given purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created for good works that God prepared beforehand. Did you ever consider that your job was prepared for you by God? You may not enjoy every part of it, but it is God’s blessing to you.
There is satisfaction in adding value to our lives and the lives of others. When we work hard for something, we tend to value it more. Often, when we didn’t respect something like a car our parents gave us, it’s because we hadn’t had to work or sacrifice for it. The more challenging something is, the more God can use it to build patience, resilience, and resourcefulness in us.
Sometimes, times of poverty or hardship teach us resourcefulness. When God expands what He has entrusted to you, He gives you both the joy and the responsibility of managing it for His glory. That’s why you were created—for His glory, and He has given you what you have to use for Him.
We are called to honor what God has entrusted to others
We are called to honor what God has entrusted to others. And so, we come to the eighth commandment:
‘You shall not steal.’
God values personal property and hard work, allowing people to benefit from the effort they put into what they own. Think about where the Israelites are at this moment. They’re at Mount Sinai, having traveled across the desert, newly freed from four centuries of enslavement in Egypt. In Egypt, they were robbed of the right to own property, deprived of the reward of their work, and unable to control their own time and effort. That’s the life of a slave. They were compelled to build cities and work tirelessly under oppressive conditions without fair compensation. Stealing is an insult to human dignity because it disregards the hard work God gives each person to manage and enjoy.
As I thought about this, I realized that I try to keep our congregation in mind when I’m preparing sermons so that the message is particularly relevant to us—that’s the job of a preacher, a pastor. And I thought, God forbids all forms of theft, but I doubt anyone in our congregation has ‘sticky fingers,’ at least not openly.
God forbids all forms of theft, from overt acts of taking to subtle forms of dishonesty, fraud, and exploitation. The term “stealing” is very broad in our day. When we talk about physical property, we take it for granted that we should guard, protect, and secure everything of value, making it harder for someone to take it. It’s just assumed. We have so many security systems, cameras, and fences. You hear stories from past generations of people who could leave their doors unlocked without worry. We take locks for granted. My wife even locks me out if I go outside to do the lawn! We assume these things today because we have to guard and protect everything we value.
While researching this week, I found that in 2023, organized retail crime caused $125 billion in lost economic activity. That’s $125 billion gone and the loss of 650,000 jobs in the U.S. alone. Organized retail crime. And in 2021, Forbes reported that $737,294,919,124 worth of property was stolen—not from retail stores, but from homes. That’s almost $8 billion worth of property stolen from homes in 2021 alone.
We know these things, don’t we? Some of us know it personally. Being robbed of something valuable is gut-wrenching. It’s a betrayal, regardless of the item’s real value. You feel violated and exposed when someone breaks into your home or your car. Some of us know that feeling all too well. And I want you to understand that this command is not just aimed at people with sticky fingers, shoplifters, or those who break into homes and cars.
Lack of integrity in work & responsibilities
Have you ever considered that a lack of integrity in work and responsibilities is breaking this commandment? When you don’t show integrity to your boss—when you don’t fulfill the responsibilities you agreed to—you’re failing to honor the agreements you’ve made with him, cutting corners. Have you ever thought that overcharging in business is breaking this commandment, that it steals trust, fairness, and honesty? And have you considered how this affects society as a whole? Think about how habitually arriving late to work, doing the bare minimum, or avoiding responsibility is essentially stealing from your employer. It’s a violation of this command.
The Bible has a strong work ethic, and the Jewish people historically had a strong work ethic. In fact, in the 16th century, when the Protestant reformers separated from the Roman Catholic Church, they were known for their rigorous work ethic, and it was this ethic, combined with their belief in God, that enabled them to come to America, develop the land, and endure grueling hardships. And where did that ethic come from? It came from the Bible.
In Titus 2:9, Paul instructs this young pastor to urge bondslaves to be subject to their masters in everything. Now, I want you to understand, when the Bible addresses the employer-employee relationship, it sometimes uses this concept of slavery. But this is not the same as the slavery we know from the American South. There were economic conditions in ancient times that created certain kinds of slavery—not the kidnapping and forced labor we think of, but more like indentured servitude. If you got in trouble financially and couldn’t pay your bills, you might make a contract with someone, becoming a bondslave. True, if you didn’t pay your debts, you could be forced into this arrangement, but it was different from the slavery we think of today.
Paul tells Titus to urge bondslaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to be well-pleasing. Are you pleasing your boss? Some might say, ‘You don’t know my boss—he’s impossible to please!’ I get that. But are you doing your best, because ultimately, you’re working for God first and foremost, not for your boss. Paul says not to be argumentative, not to pilfer. What does it mean to pilfer? It means to take things that aren’t yours. But instead, we’re called to show all good faith, so that we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.
For a Christian, giving anything less than what we would give to God—less effort and integrity—is unthinkable. We represent God, and He’s the one who gave us the job, whether we like it or not. I am God’s servant before I am anyone else’s servant. That’s why this commandment, ‘You shall not steal,’ applies to every area of our lives.
Misusing resources for personal gain instead of for their intended purpose.
Have you ever considered that misusing resources for personal gain instead of for their intended purpose is a violation? I’m not just talking about at work, although it does happen at work, but even misusing the resources you think are yours. Does not your life belong to God? Is not the Christian a slave to Christ? Has He not bought us with a price? Therefore, we’re called to glorify God with our bodies, our minds, and everything we have.
Wasteful spending and careless disposal of resources that could benefit others is a subtle form of theft. If God has given you resources to be generous to other people, and you don’t use those resources for that purpose, that is a subtle form of theft. It’s a misuse of what God has entrusted to us for our own self-indulgence and excess. This is radical thinking for 21st-century Americans. We’re not talking about occasional indulgence here; for most of us, indulgence is not occasional. American lives are generally characterized by excessive indulgence, and that’s how the world knows us.
God calls us to invest our resources in things that matter for eternity—things like generosity, good deeds, and helping others—not to hoard things for our own temporary satisfaction. And yet, we worry about not having enough, worry about not being able to have the retirement we want or the lifestyle we want. But listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 6:19: ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.’ And here’s the principle: ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
Have you considered that everything you have comes from God, and that if you have an excess, He doesn’t give you that excess just to be excessive? Misusing what God has given us outside of His intended purpose is a subtle form of stealing—from God and from others whom He intends us to bless.
And how about being idle and lazy? Is that not a form of stealing? Idleness and laziness waste the time and resources God has given you to use productively for His kingdom. I’m not talking about those who are disabled. I’m talking about those of us who struggle with idleness and laziness. The Bible has a lot to say about laziness—just read the Book of Proverbs. But for today’s purpose, I’ll read from Luke 12:48 to make this point: ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.’
How much time has God given you, and how much of that time is spent in front of the television? How much is spent wastefully scrolling on the internet? I’m not saying God is against rest. We looked at the Sabbath commandment weeks ago; God is for rest. But sometimes we take that rest to a whole new level, don’t we? And that is a subtle form of stealing from God because He has given us the time.
Jesus says, ‘To whom much is given, much will be required.’ If God has blessed you with a lot, guess what? He expects a lot of you. In a world full of distractions, we have to be proactive in using our time for God’s purpose.
A few years ago, I attended a conference where a speaker pointed out that the new commodity in America is attention span. How long can we keep your attention to push a product in front of your face? Why? Because we’re so distracted—everyone is vying for our attention. You can’t even have a private cell phone number anymore without someone getting ahold of it to send you spam, trying to trick you, or even to steal from you. It’s a huge problem in our culture. More and more people are realizing the need to turn off their phones and computers to focus for a while.
To whom much is given, much is required. We have to be proactive in how we use the time God has given us. Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 5, verse 15, ‘Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.’
When I’m so busy that I can’t spend even five minutes in prayer to God, or five minutes in His Word—if I can’t even do that and focus—then that’s a problem. That’s a wasteful life. It tells me I’m investing my life in things that won’t count for eternity.
Neglecting generosity & withholding aid
Neglecting generosity and withholding aid—let’s talk about this a bit more because I want to refine it further. Paul repeats this commandment in Ephesians 4:28. You know, the eighth commandment is, ‘You shall not steal,’ and Paul reiterates this to the church in Ephesus, saying, ‘He who steals must steal no longer.’ Why? There’s a principle here. But Paul continues, ‘Rather, he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good.’ What’s the purpose of working? So that he will have something to share with one who is in need.
Do you hear the connection? God has given you extra, and the ability to work and earn extra, to be able to take care of people who need it. What a perspective! Therefore, when I don’t meet the needs of people whom God has placed in front of me, I’m breaking this commandment. James says, ‘To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.’ Now, some of us might be doing this in ignorance—we don’t know. But when we do know and don’t go through with it, it’s sin. It’s stealing. In fact, in the Book of Malachi, God charges the Israelites, ‘Why are you robbing from me?’ And they ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ And He responds, ‘In tithes and offerings.’
John says in his letter, 1 John 3:17, ‘Whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how can the love of God abide in him?’ Withholding help may not involve physically taking something from someone, but we’re failing to give what God has called us to share—and that, too, is a form of stealing.
We must confront the desires in our hearts & trust in God’s provision.
We must confront the desires in our hearts and trust in God’s provision. That’s where it’s at. You have to confront your heart, confront yourself, and ask, ‘Why am I so stingy? Why do I excessively want this? How is it going to add value to my life and the lives of others by glorifying God?’
Our hearts are tempted by distrust, greed, and a lack of contentment. We distrust that God is really going to provide for us in the way we think we should be provided for, don’t we? We struggle with trusting God—trusting that He’ll give us what we need or what we want. And so, what do we do? We take matters into our own hands. Isn’t that an underlying reason why Americans carry such high credit card debt? I researched this week, and the average American household is carrying around $12,000 of revolving credit card debt. That’s average. Obviously, some carry more, some less.
Why? Doesn’t it have something to do with our distrust of God? So, we take matters into our own hands. Not all of it, of course—sometimes emergencies come up. But, boy, we sure are quick to call that new couch an emergency, aren’t we?
Paul tells Timothy (and this won’t be on the screen, but for your own reference, it’s 1 Timothy 6:10), ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil.’ Lots of people like to twist that to say that money itself is the root of all evil, but the Bible doesn’t say that. The Bible isn’t against wealth. It’s actually very pro-wealth—provided we aren’t greedy and we’re using it for God’s glory. But Paul says that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. And listen to this: ‘By longing for it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.’ Some of us know that experience, don’t we? The grief that comes to our heart because we gave in to materialism, the way it costs us, and how it never really fulfills all that it promises.
This is an issue of the heart, and I have to learn to confront myself when those temptations arise. We struggle with greed, don’t we? Greed is an intense desire to have more, betraying the subtle belief that possessions will satisfy us more than God can. We struggle like this.
It’s a misnomer that the greedy people in this world are all wealthy. That isn’t true. Some of the wealthiest people I’ve known were very generous, and some of the greediest were very poor. It’s not an income issue; it’s a heart issue. It betrays this subtle belief that somehow, if I have more, I’ll be content. And it might work for a little while, but it never, ever pays off in the way you believe it will satisfy your life.
Another reason we struggle is that we often want the rewards of work without actually doing the work. It was said of my generation, Generation X, that we want everything our parents’ generation got, and it took them forty years to get there—but Generation X wants it in ten. We don’t want to wait; we want the rewards, but we shouldn’t be expected to work for them. So, what do we do? We cut corners. Who hasn’t cut corners from time to time or been tempted to?
Another thing that reveals our heart—and this is something we have to confront—is that we believe we’re owed something more than we have. We think we’re entitled, that we’re owed something, rather than seeing ourselves as slaves of Christ who have our salvation and are owed nothing. I was bought with a price. I’m not owed anything. But we give in to that subtle temptation, believing and acting as if we’re owed something more than we’ve been given. We become self-absorbed in our thoughts, believing we have to have this thing, so we cut corners, compromising our integrity.
When I feel such a strong desire for something that I’m willing to cut corners to get it, it reveals deeper issues within my heart. Doesn’t it say that my heart is so insecure that I’m trying to fill a gap—whether with possessions, status symbols, or whatever—that I’m willing to cut corners and violate my integrity? Doesn’t it say that my identity is misplaced? When we define ourselves by what we own or achieve, we’re going to be tempted to cut corners to prove ourselves, because these things define us. This position defines me; this status defines who I am. We find our identities in these things, which tells you something about the gods we worship.
When I have to have something God hasn’t given me, it tells me something about the god I worship. My identity is no longer in Christ. Doesn’t this show great disrespect for God’s authority over me? It tells me His authority over me isn’t as important as I’d like to think it is, and that I’m living in rebellion against Him.
My friends, when you don’t confront your heart in this way, your relationships tend to get shallower, because people become a means to satisfy the little gods in your heart. We’re willing to cut corners regardless of whether we think the person we’re taking from deserves it or not. Essentially, we’re breaking the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Now I know that’s hard for us—that’s the negative, isn’t it? Now let’s look at what God calls us to do.
God calls us to be grateful & generous.
Again, we’ve seen this is why God blesses you with what He blesses you with. Rather than believing somehow He’s blessed me with this so that I can waste it on whatever, we need to examine our hearts. I could think of lots of examples, but I don’t want to assume that just getting a bigger TV or buying a better car is necessarily sinful. The Bible isn’t teaching that—we all have to evaluate our own hearts, don’t we?
But certainly, when we have excess—and we do have excess—I want you to know, this is older research on my part. Over ten years ago, I discovered that the average person who was receiving financial assistance from our government to live was placed in the top 15% income category in the world. In other words, the lowest incomes in America are in the top 15% income bracket of the world. Do we not have something that God has blessed us with to be generous? Well, no—’You know how much Starbucks costs these days!’ That’s an easy one for me to bring up. I’m not saying that Starbucks is the devil, but God calls us to be grateful and generous with whatever we have.
Are you grateful for how God has blessed you? This is where it begins. If you want to change your heart, start by being grateful. Start by counting your blessings. ‘Name them one by one and see all that God has done.’ It starts with being grateful. Are you grateful for what God has blessed you with?
I quoted 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in my announcements, where the Apostle Paul says, ‘In everything, give thanks.’ He’s writing to people persecuted by their government, and he’s saying, ‘Be thankful in everything; this is God’s will for you.’ Are we thankful?
Remember Job, after he was struck by the devil and lost everything except his own life? Job says, ‘Naked I came into this world from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; blessed be His name.’ Even if I have to go live with nothing, blessed be Your name.
Paul says in Philippians 4:6, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.’ Are you grateful? There’s always room to be more grateful, no matter our current level of gratefulness, isn’t there?
Well, if you’re grateful—and I pray you are—then here’s my second question how open-handed and generous are you in supporting His work and building His kingdom? How open is your hand to the Lord to build His kingdom here? Does He have access to your goods and resources, which are really His?
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:6, ‘Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.’ My friends, if you don’t put enough seed in the ground, you’re not going to get a very good crop, are you? Don’t let the prosperity preachers hijack this and throw it out the window because they abuse it. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and it’s not a ‘give-to-get’ scheme, but it’s a principle that is generally true. Paul’s saying, how can we expect great blessings from God if we don’t use what He gives us for His glory?
He continues in verse 7, ‘Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart’—listen to this—’not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’ My friends, the concept here is that God has blessed you with everything you have.
I’ve heard many preachers whom I appreciate say, ‘When I think about what God has given me—everything I have—it seems like 10% would be the training wheels for giving, the bare minimum.’ But that’s between you and the Lord. By the way, I don’t know what anyone gives here—I don’t know percentages or dollar amounts, and I keep it that way on purpose. But I want you to think about how generous you are with what God has blessed you with.
Paul says here, ‘Each one must give as he has purposed in his heart.’ That means I have to plan ahead; I have to think ahead. I shouldn’t just come and say, ‘Well, this is how I feel today, so this is what I’ll give.’ No, I have to think ahead: ‘Lord, this is what You’ve blessed me with, so this is how I’m going to plan it. This is my purpose; if this is acceptable to You.’ That way, when I give, it’s not grudgingly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. Why? Because it reflects who He is—you cannot out-give God.
And as I said earlier, God accused the Israelites of robbing Him by withholding what He called them to give. Now, that’s convicting for many of us, I know. Be grateful and generous with what God’s given you, wherever that is, wherever that starts for you. Seek to grow it, and I promise you’ll be blessed in it—maybe not exactly how you think, but God will not let you go without.
I once heard Michael Youssef tell a story in his church in Atlanta. He’d given a sermon on giving, and one of his congregants came up to him and said, ‘Pastor Michael, you know, I want to give, but I’m really conflicted because if I give this to the Lord, I might not be able to pay my bills. What do I do?’ Pastor Michael tells the story that he responded, ‘What if we do this for you as a church? You give the 10%—that’s what they were talking about—you give that 10% to the Lord, and if you end up with a bill you can’t pay, come to the church, and we promise we will supply and pay those bills for you.’ The woman was relieved, saying, ‘Well, yes, I’d do that.’ And then Michael Youssef said, ‘Now, I want you to listen to this. You’re going to trust the church to pay your bills more than you trust God?’
There is no one who embodies true generosity, integrity, and selflessness than Jesus.
Jesus is so generous, kind, full of integrity, and selfless in the way He gives. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:9, ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.’ Jesus gave it all for you—how much more generous could God be? When you were His enemy, He gave it all. Where we struggle with greed, selfishness, and shortcuts, Jesus shows us the opposite.
And just because we’re greedy and struggle with taking things that aren’t ours doesn’t change Him for a second. Oh, what relief there is in knowing that I can be set free from the corruption in my heart by what Jesus has done for me. I can find a new identity. I don’t have to be identified or enslaved to my social status, my possessions, or my vacations. I don’t have to be enslaved to those things because my identity is in Him, and He provides.
In order for Him to do that for you, He had to become one of us. He gave up all His riches in heaven, became a poor human being, a servant, and died on a cross to pay for our greed, our ingratitude, and our indifference. He died, and He cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ In that moment, He knew what He had never known before—because of our greed, our discontentment, and our unwillingness to trust Him. He dies, pays the debt, and is buried, and it looks to the world like the devil has won, like all hope is lost. But as we sang earlier, He rose from the dead because He’s God, and He gives life to those who will trust Him. He sets you free from your enslavement to this culture that wants to enslave you, to this world system. My friends, if you’ll trust Him, He’ll clear your debt here today.
Now I’m going to ask Matthew to come up and lead us in a song, and afterward, we’ll partake in communion. Do you know what communion is about? Sometimes called the Lord’s Supper, it’s about thanking God and honoring Christ for what He did for you. But here’s the important thing: this is meant for His people. For His own purposes, the Lord takes this very sacredly, very seriously. It’s not a joke; it’s not to be taken lightly.
So, my friends, if you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, or if you have but you’re not walking in repentance, please don’t partake. Just let it pass—it’s fine. You still need to repent, but let it pass. The Bible warns us that whoever partakes of this without being right with the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon themselves. So I’m asking you to reflect on your heart, and if you’re feeling guilt today, go to Christ. Cry out to Him and say, ‘Jesus, I’m a greedy person, greedier than Scrooge himself, and I need You to set me free. I’m sorry; You’ve been so generous to me. Change my heart.’ My friends, He will not turn you away.
Let’s pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, I confess to You that I often fail to give You the honor that is due to You with my resources, the affections of my heart, my relationships, and my time. I’m often tempted to be idle. There are many little gods that promise me great things, and sometimes I believe their lies, and I don’t honor You. I ask You to forgive me. But Jesus, I thank You that in Your selflessness, You were willing to pay such a great debt for me—something I could never pay. I thank You that You died for me. Make us right with You. In Your name, we pray, amen.
