Moving from "So That" to "Because"

As we journey through our gratitude series, many of you are keeping up with your daily gratitude journal. These small moments of gratitude help tune our hearts to recognize the gifts God provides and support going through life with a joyful attitude. Today, we find a profound reason for gratitude as we look to Jesus, our teacher, whose wisdom invites us to rethink our approach to faith and obedience.

In Mark 12:28-34, a scribe approaches Jesus with a question often debated by religious leaders: "Which commandment is the most important?" Jesus replies with clarity and power, combining two commandments—love God with all you are and love your neighbor as yourself. These two commands encompass the entire law and point us toward a life fully aligned with God’s will. But what’s remarkable in Jesus’ answer isn’t just his teaching; it’s his subtle invitation for the scribe to see a deeper truth: that our relationship with God isn’t about what we can accomplish "so that" God loves us, but a response "because" God already has.

One Questioner Is Not Far from the Kingdom of God

In the time right before today’s reading, the religious leaders attempted to trap him, challenging his authority with questions about taxes and the resurrection. But Jesus meets each question with wisdom, silencing his critics. The scribe sees this and comes not to trap Jesus, but with genuine curiosity. The scribe asks Jesus what the most important commandment is.

When Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6, the famous Shema—“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one”—he’s affirming the heart of the Jewish faith, something devout Jews recited daily. It calls for total devotion to God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then, Jesus combines it with Leviticus 19:18, the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe acknowledges the depth and wisdom of Jesus’ answer when he says, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Jesus then tells the scribe: "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

The Scribe’s Closeness and the Messiah’s Role

But what does “not far” mean? Why didn’t Jesus say, "You’re there"? The answer lies in understanding who the Messiah truly is. After answering the scribe, Jesus poses a question back to the crowd about Psalm 110, where David refers to the Messiah as “Lord.” Jesus is inviting them — and the scribe — to see that the Messiah, though descended from David, is far greater. He’s not only a teacher or king but the very Lord and Savior who will reconcile us to God.

The scribe grasps that love for God and neighbor is greater than sacrifices and burnt offerings. Yet, he is missing something vital: the Messiah himself. He knows what the Law says deep down. Now he needs to reflect on whether he is actually living according to the law. The answer from Jesus will always be, “No,” because Jesus wants to drive us into the arms of God’s mercy.

Moving from “So That” to “Because”

For the scribe, understanding the law in terms of love well along the way, but there was another step to take. He needed to see that love will never be perfected in this life. Love isn’t something we do so that we can come close to God. Love is what we do because God has come close to us. Love is a response to the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice. Hebrews 9:13-15 explains that while the blood of animals purified in the Old Testament, Christ’s sacrifice purifies us completely, “from dead works to serve the living God.” In other words, we don’t do good works so that God will accept us; we love and serve because God has already reconciled us to Him through Christ.

This shift from “so that” to “because” transforms how we relate to God. Under the old covenant, people would sacrifice to make themselves acceptable to God, but it never lasted. Every misstep required another sacrifice, another act to restore peace. This system showed that no amount of ritual or personal effort could make us holy. We need grace — the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ.

Letting Go of Dead Works

Gratitude blooms when we recognize that Christ’s love frees us from trying to earn God’s favor. Our culture is often obsessed with performance. Sometimes this can creep into Christian life in good works—trying to be “good enough” or “loving enough” to earn our way into God’s grace. But as Hebrews reminds us, Christ has already completed this work. He is the mediator of a new covenant, one that removes the need for repeated sacrifices because his sacrifice was final and perfect.

This is the difference between living for “dead works” and serving the living God. Dead works are efforts to meet God’s standards by our own merits. They’re exhausting because we can never reach the bar. Even in our best attempts to love and do good, if our motive is to avoid punishment or earn acceptance, we’re ultimately serving ourselves. Jesus frees us from this endless cycle by fulfilling the law on our behalf.

Gratitude-Driven Love

With Christ’s love fully given to us, we now live in gratitude, no longer striving for God’s approval but resting in the assurance of his grace. We move from “so that” to “because”:

• We forgive not “so that” we’re forgiven, but “because” we’ve been forgiven.
• We love others not “so that” God will love us, but “because” God already does.
• We serve not out of obligation, but as a joyful response to God’s boundless grace.

This “because” mindset brings peace that striving never could. When we know that God holds nothing against us, we’re free to love authentically. We can engage in good works not out of self-preservation, but out of self-giving love, modeling the love Christ showed us first.

The Good News

The gospel message is this: all we think we need to do to please God has already been done by Jesus. We are not defined by our ability to fulfill the law, but by the love God has poured out through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. God doesn’t just wipe our slate clean; he abolishes the very need for tallying up our deeds. In Christ, we’re invited to lay down our “so that” thinking and embrace the “because” reality of grace.

Living Out Gratitude

When we grasp this truth, gratitude naturally follows. 1 John 4:19 reminds us, “We love because he first loved us.” This love compels us to act not out of fear, but from a heart brimming with gratitude. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Paul says that “Christ’s love compels us” to live no longer for ourselves but for him. Gratitude reorients us toward God and each other, grounding us in a love that moves beyond duty and into the joy of service.

As you continue with your gratitude journal, consider journaling not only about what you’re thankful for, but how God’s love has changed your perspective. See each act of gratitude as a response to the grace you’ve been given, and let this understanding of God’s love transform the way you love others.

Gratitude changes lives, not because it’s one more good work, but because it springs from a heart transformed by the love of Jesus. The move from “so that” to “because” is the move of faith in Jesus Christ and it changes everything.

Much grace and peace to you!