06/23/2026
Last night, Joe was reading me a journal entry he had written.
As a new Christian, he was wrestling with a lot of questions.
“When I’m digging a hole in the backyard, should I be praying and/or praising God the entire time ?”
“When I’m praying, should I be praying for our daughters, our granddaughters, you, myself, or unsaved people?”
“My body is a temple, and I should be eating healthier, but I’m feeding it junk.”
“Why do I feel like I can never do enough?”
I smiled and said, “Oh my darling, that’s because you can never do enough.”
None of us can.
We can’t earn our way into heaven. We can’t be good enough. We can’t work hard enough. We can’t pray enough, read enough Scripture, attend enough church services, or perform enough good deeds to save ourselves.
If we could, Jesus would never have needed to die on that cross.
Salvation is a free gift.
A gift purchased by Jesus and offered to us through grace.
The Christian life isn’t about striving to earn God’s love. It’s about receiving His love.
We don’t pray because we have to. We pray because we get to talk to our Father.
We don’t read our Bibles to earn points with God. We read them because we want to know Him better.
We don’t obey Him to gain salvation. We obey Him because we already have it.
The enemy loves to whisper, “You’re not doing enough.”
Jesus says, “It is finished.”
What freedom there is in those three words.
So if you’re feeling like Joe did, wondering if you’re doing enough, take a deep breath.
Look to the cross.
Jesus already did enough.
In fact, He did it all.
❤️
Susan Hougelman
Simple Life in New Wilmington, Pa (for a little while longer) 😊
