“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14)

For those who struggle with self-righteousness and find their thoughts continually sliding into judgmentalism and criticalism, the cross is the place to turn.  It equals all humanity at its foot.  It reminds us that the sin and the rebellious streak of our heart have made us all unworthy before God.  We depend upon His grace.  For those who struggle with self-depreciation and muddle through the swamp of self-loathing, shame and scrupulosity, the cross is the place to turn.  It lifts us up from the shameful place it found us.  It restores us to nobility and servant-authority greater than from which Adam fell.  It tells us we are more than head-bowed pardoned criminals but restored as children in the family of the Father.  Whatever way we want to misperceive our place, the cross can order our thinking again.