In “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp, he writes, “If you have been freed from needing success and acclaim to feel good about yourself, you know grace has visited you.” What a powerful and true statement that is! We all desire to love and to be loved. Likewise, we want to feel good about ourselves. So here is what we commonly do. We look horizontally for that personal peace and acknowledgement that is only found vertically. We all have experienced “fleeting success” and know how short-lived that can be.

If success is what we are a seeking, it isn’t long before we are looking for our next fix. Then we have created an addiction or idol that may not represent the will of God. As we take a step back and realize that His grace has forever freed us from needing to prove our righteousness and our worth. Jesus is our righteousness and invites us to gaze vertically for what we have already been given.