Are there times in your life when you try to outweigh the bad things you have done by the good things that you will do in the future? You are not alone. There are times in my life when I am in that state too. I usually observe this happen every time I misspent time. I try to outweigh or offset hours idly spent watching movies by trying to be diligent in my studies and my reading so as to make the most use of my time.
I do not mean to say that we should not spend any time for leisure because it is also a gift from God. What I am trying to say is that I idly use my leisure time without any self-restraint. Every time I misspent time, I always get convicted because my time is not really my time, it is a gift from God, and He will hold me accountable with the way I have used it and maximized it for His glory and the good of others. That is why, there are times when I find myself, trying to be productive because of misspent time.
It might be different with you. It might be anger, irritation, and impatience towards others. You might try to be kinder to others to outweigh bad feelings towards them. Or it could be passivity to what God is calling you to do. You might try to be more active for a season of time to outweigh the season of passivity in your life. The point is that all of us are not exempted from having that motivation of doing good so as to outweigh the bad.
Every time we are caught in this trap, let us pause and ponder of the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ. There is no need to outweigh or offset the bad things we have committed with the good things because we are not to be judged as though we are on a scale. Our bad deeds on the left side and our good deeds on the right. And if the good outweighs the bad then God will accept us. That is not how God accepts people. God’s standard is perfect. (Matt. 5:48) No matter how hard we try to outweigh the bad, the bad will always be there to render us guilty for punishment. And no matter how hard we try to be good, we could never attain the perfection that God requires. That is why, Christ is our only Hope. He suffered and died to pay the penalty of the sinful things we have done. And He lived a perfect life to attain the standard God has set for us to give us the righteousness that God alone accepts. Through self-abandoning trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ alone could we be forgiven and granted eternal life. (John 3:16)
So, let us cling to the gospel of Christ, our only Hope. Let us be relieved and be grateful that we are not to be judged by our flawed performance but rather by the flawless performance of Christ in His life, death, and resurrection. (2 Cor. 5:21, Phil. 3:9) And as we try to do good things, let us offer it to God as a form of worship because our lives are to be rendered as living sacrifices because of the lavish grace He has showered upon us. (Rom. 12:1) Let us do good to please the One who died for us for His glory.
By grace alone 