Steven Curtis Chapman – You Know Better lyrics

A lot of people think that how "good" they are depends on how "good" everybody else is. They then assume that if they're better than everyone else, then they must really be something in God's eyes. But the truth is, we're all sinners, no matter how much good we do. The Bible says that all our good works are "as filthy rags" compared to our sin.

Maybe we could get away with being "good guys" if God saw only our actions. But God looks deeper than that. He can see all of our undercover desires, hidden lusts, and secret fantasies. And if you're like me, then if all of your secret sins came into the light, you would be extremely humbled. Since God sees all of that, all the time, we can't expect Him to think of our "goodness" the way other people do.

Trying to be "good" in the eyes of men only brings us pride, which, as the Bible says, leads to destruction. Jesus set a different standard when He advised secret acts of servitude and prayer instead of public charity. Though are good works, secret or not, aren't the source of our salvation, Jesus said that, in His kingdom, the "least would be greatest". That means the one who served not for fame or honor but simply for the joy of obeying Christ will have a higher place than the one who judged his "goodness" as being relative to others.