6th March 2026

March is a time when we may spend more time reflecting on Jesus’s sacrifice for us. And many use it as a time for self-assessment, considering Paul’s advice to us to, ‘Examine yourselves’.

Before we start, Jesus recounted a helpful parable to guard us from the wrong route to take in our deliberations. Luke records that he told the disciples about a Pharisee who prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ The Pharisee’s starting point was like an exam paper based on a lifestyle that included actions that God had never asked for. He set the paper, decided the pass mark, and then marked and graded his own paper, which of course, was a pass. And on the way, graded the tax collector standing nearby and gave him a fail. (Luke 18: 9-14).  

So we steer clear of making and marking our own exam. There are better routes to take, whilst considering Paul’s instruction, than some sort of check-list, because there’s always going to be places in our lives where we fall short of the mark. Instead let’s start at Romans 10:9-10: ‘If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.’ 

The emphasis is not on what we are doing – are we keeping the law – but on a life that is centred on faith in Christ. This analysis is about relationships. We could start by deepening our realisation of the need for Christ, and deepening our realisation of the love of God, seen in the life of Jesus for us. As we see more and more clearly the depth of the love of God, expressed in Jesus’s life and his death for us, then we are motivated to change – to make changes that the Spirit reveals.

 ¹ Psalm 19: 14

Local congregation:
Grace Communion in Lewes
The House of Friendship
208 High Street
Lewes
BN7 2NS

Meeting time:
Sunday 11:00 am 

Local congregational contact:
Hilary Buck
Email:  lewes@gracecom.church
Like us on www.facebook.com/Grace Communion Lewes 

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church