Psalm 130:3-4

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,

Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

People keep score. Some keep track of all the things they do for their family and others and then get resentful when they aren’t thanked. Others keep track of the way they are wronged and look for retribution and repayment on their enemies.

If you’re a mom or a dad, how do you keep score? Think of times you compare yourself to other parents and feel awful because you don’t measure up to how they parent. Do you keep track of the times you work and sacrifice only to receive zero appreciation for it?

If you have a job, do you keep score? Do you keep track of how many raises or promotions or “good job’s” you’ve received in comparison to others?

Do you keep track of how many times you’ve done “that same sin over and over again?” Or do you keep track of how often others do wrong in comparison to your own life?

I know we all keep score, because that’s part of our nature. My two kids know exactly who got the bigger pancake between the two of them and who received one extra piece of candy. They watch. They keep score. It’s human nature to keep score for ourselves and others.

But God, well, he doesn’t keep score. Psalm 130 says “if you Lord kept a record of sins, who could stand?” The answer? No one. If God kept score of how well you live your life or how good you have been or how many sins you have committed, what would be the result? Nobody could stand in God’s presence. Not me, not you, not anyone.

However, God doesn’t keep score. Instead, the psalmist says, “With you there is forgiveness.” And since God doesn’t keep score with us, we can serve him with peace and respect. God doesn’t keep score in your life because he already did that with Jesus. Jesus lived the perfect life you can’t live. He died to pay for all the things you’ve done wrong. As a result, God doesn’t keep score in your life.

God declares you holy and says you are his child. He isn’t in the business of keeping score so there’s no need to try and be better than others to impress him. There’s no need to play the comparison game. You are deeply, intimately, and wholly loved by God as seen in what Jesus, his Son, did for you.

You don’t need to keep score, not with others and not with yourself. You are forgiven and accepted by Christ. Free yourself from that never-ending tendency to keep score.

Pastor Jeremy Belter