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READ: LUKE 5:27-32; 18:9-17; ROMANS 5:6-11; 1 JOHN 2:1\n\n\n\nThe small chapel was an inconspicuous building tucked along a side street off of Main. The leaders on the mission trip hadn\u2019t mentioned the little church, but they had told the students it was okay to explore the area in the evening after dinner as long as they stayed in pairs and didn\u2019t go too far. The chapel itself had worn pews with only a few people scattered across several dozen rows. Xavier\u2019s friend Liam had protested that it \u201cwouldn\u2019t be fun\u201d and \u201cthere wasn\u2019t much time,\u201d but Xavier had responded, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing better we could do than pray.\u201d\n\n\n\nSo, Liam begrudgingly took a seat near the front with his friend. Xavier stole a glance around the room and thanked God that he wasn\u2019t like Liam, who wanted \u201cfun\u201d instead of wanting to pray. Then he thanked God that he wasn\u2019t like the drunk, staring blankly a few pews over, barely aware of the world.\n\n\n\nHearing a noise, he turned and glanced at someone slinking into a back pew, with a shirt that literally blazed, \u201cI am the enemy\u201d in flaming letters. Xavier thanked God that he knew better than to enter a church dressed like that.\n\n\n\nThe man in the t-shirt didn\u2019t lift up his face. He just hoarsely whispered, \u201cGod, I need another chance, because I am the problem in my life.\u201d \u2022 Gideon Eising\n\n\n\n\u2022 Today\u2019s story is an allegory of a parable Jesus told in Luke 18. Which character do you relate to most today\u2014Xavier, Liam, the person in the middle pew, or the man in the back pew? Why?\n\n\n\n\u2022 Jesus was telling this parable \u201cto some who had great confidence in their own righteousness\u201d and looked down on everybody else (Luke 18:9). When are you tempted to look down on others? Are you sometimes tempted to think of yourself as \u201cless of a sinner\u201d than the people around you?\n\n\n\n\u2022 Is God too harsh in forgiving only the humble? Can our pride get in the way of grace? Read Luke 18:16-17. Jesus died and rose so all who put their trust in Him\u2014relying on His perfect righteousness, not any imperfect righteousness of our own\u2014can be forgiven (more on our \u201cKnow Jesus\u201d page). Yet, even Christians can forget we need Jesus just as much as anybody. But, through the Holy Spirit, God helps us walk in humility and resist sins like pride. And even though we sin daily, we can come to Him with repentant hearts, knowing His love and forgiveness are sure. Because Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the person you\u2019re tempted to look down on, and for you.\n\n\n\n\u201cI [Jesus] have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.\u201d Luke 5:32 (NLT)