I grew up in a church where was a lot of emphasis on 'externals': Where you could and could not go; what you could and could not wear. Everything centered around how you performed. God smiles when you are 'good' and He is angry when you do 'bad' things.
I came across a very enlightening Scripture verse that shed a lot of light on the subject. At Jesus' baptism, God the Father said, ...“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." [Mark 1:11] What I find amazing is this was BEFORE Jesus even performed His first miracle! He had not begun His ministry; no healing, no walking on water or feeding the multitudes.
So how could God be pleased with Him when He had not done anything yet? The answer is His relationship with His Father. And that is the same for us. God is pleased with us because of our relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ, not what we do.
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