THE VICTOR’S MENTALITY 24 (Guarding Your Heart from Condemnation & Comparison)

Beloved, you are welcome to today’s article. I am sure you will be blessed by God’s Word through this write-up.

Last week, we stopped at this point:

When you forget that you are righteous in Christ, you become vulnerable to:

1. Condemnation

2. Comparison

3. Legalism

4. Self-effort

I said we’d examine these four areas where we become vulnerable when we don’t anchor our faith in Christ’s righteousness. By God’s grace, we’ll look at the first two tonight and the last two next week.

 

When a believer doesn’t wear the breastplate of righteousness—that is, when their heart isn’t grounded in the righteousness of Christ—they see themselves falling prey to these four things.

1. Condemnation: This happens when the heart forgets it is justified by grace.

Let’s look at Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The Bible states that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. This is how God sees you, and this is how you must see yourself!

 

Notice that this chapter starts with “therefore,” which connects it to the discussion in the previous chapter. If we had time, we’d dive into it, but it describes a heart frustrated and miserable from trying to perform. No matter how much a person tries, they discover they don’t measure up. Romans 8:1 shows that Christ’s intervention and what He did on the cross ended the struggle waged within the soul (heart). Your union with Him sets you free from it.

As I earlier mentioned, Romans 7 describes the struggle of someone trying to earn a relationship with God based on performance. Particularly in verse 18 (AMPC): “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]”

Note this: even though this person knows the right thing to do and desires to do it, the flesh cannot achieve it. As much as they try to perform using their fleshly propensity and inclination, they always fall short. As a result, the devil hits them with condemnation and exposes their failure to them. Then regret sets in, and the inability to forgive themselves also follows.

No wonder Paul said there’s nothing good in the flesh—it’s the access we give the devil in our lives. We weaponize the devil and grant him legal ground to victimize us with condemnation when we try to relate to God based on performance. Christian transformation originates within, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, and expresses what He’s doing in us through our thoughts, actions, and reactions.

When we err or fall short of God’s standard of holiness, He doesn’t condemn us; rather, He corrects us by pointing us back to Christ. He reminds us who we are in Christ. For instance, He reminds you that you don’t have an unforgiving spirit or the spirit of envy in Christ. He reminds you of your position (righteousness) in God’s presence, so you don’t need to partner with the works of the flesh. When He reminds you who you are, faith is restored, and you’re renewed, refreshed, revitalized, and set back in the direction God wants you to go.

But when you act from without, relying on your fleshly propensity and inclination, whenever you sin, stumble, or fall short, your flesh won’t remind you of Christ. Instead, the devil takes advantage, as he always does, focusing you on your failure. You begin to feel unworthy and ashamed, like Adam and Eve, causing you to withdraw from God because you’re depending on your performance.

Beloved, let your heart start looking to Christ and see that you are already righteous. Cease from a performance-based relationship with God. Stop trying to impress. See the sacrifice of Christ as the one and only thing needed to connect you to God and keep you relating with Him.

A heart not secured by God’s righteousness becomes the devil’s playground.

Let’s quickly look at the second one:

2. Comparison: Comparison sets in when the heart isn’t aware that its security is in Christ’s righteousness. When it stops seeking security in Christ’s righteousness and seeks external validation instead, you run into comparison, which is detrimental to your heart’s position. “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV)

The people Paul refers to here are prideful, with a sense of superiority. They’re self-satisfied and impose themselves on others, feeling no one can be better than them. They measure themselves by their own standards, not depending on the Holy Spirit but feeling self-sufficient. Their standard is themselves or those in their circle. This is what we see today—where people measure themselves by others’ achievements. Therefore, their hearts begin to measure worth by others’ lives rather than God’s truth about them. They feel inferior or superior, depending on their standard of evaluation. 

The standard of the Christian life is high—it’s nothing less than Christ.

Using any other standard keeps you stagnant because the Holy Spirit can’t work on your heart. That’s why we aren’t transformed or progressing in life and ministry as God expected us to. But the more we see Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit conforms us to Christ’s image and likeness.

There’s so much to say, but I have to stop here. By God’s grace, we’ll continue in the next article.

Written by Peter Ayoola Fakeye—PAF