The Importance of Getting Up – Greg Laurie Devotion – March 12, 2026

Biblical Context

The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans to believers in Rome, likely around 57 AD. Paul had not yet visited the Roman church, so this letter served as a detailed explanation of the Gospel message. He wanted to clearly lay out the truth about sin, God’s righteousness, and how people get right with God. In Romans, Paul argues that salvation isn’t about following religious laws or doing good deeds. Instead, it’s all about faith in Jesus Christ. He uses Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, as a prime example because Abraham lived centuries before the Law of Moses. This shows that God’s way of making people right with Him has always been through belief, not through human effort.

Key Word Study

Let’s look at the word righteous from our main scripture, Romans 4:3. In the Greek, this word is dikaioō (δικαιόω), which means to declare, acquit, or make righteous. It’s not about becoming perfect in your own behavior, but about being declared right in God’s eyes. When God counts someone as righteous, He’s basically saying, ‘You’re right with Me now,’ not because of what you’ve done, but because you’ve put your trust in Him. It means a right standing before God, a legal declaration of innocence and acceptance based on faith.

Faith Isn’t Perfection, It’s Perseverance

The Bible doesn’t teach that if you’re a Christian, you’ll never stumble or periodically fall short. That’s just not how life works. But it does teach that if you’re a true believer, when you’ve had a lapse or a stumble, you will always get up and move forward. That’s the way to determine whether a person is really a believer or not.

Abraham’s Stumbles and What They Teach Us

Abraham, who was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation, found out that being made right with God wasn’t about his good deeds. If his good deeds had made him acceptable, he’d have had something to boast about. But that wasn’t God’s way. Romans 4:1–3 nlt says, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.’”

Even a giant of faith like Abraham made some serious mistakes, showing us that God’s grace doesn’t depend on our perfection:

When God came to Abraham in Ur and told him to break away from his family, Abraham basically refused and didn’t go for years. Even after he left, he only partially obeyed God by dragging his nephew Lot along. This only resulted in more friction down the road, when he and Lot eventually parted company.

Abraham told his beautiful wife, Sarah, to say that she was his sister because he was afraid someone would kill him if they realized he was indeed her husband. He did that on two occasions! His fear led him to lie and put Sarah in a really bad spot.

After God promised him a son—an heir to continue his lineage—Abraham tried to force the Lord’s hand by fathering a child with Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar. That decision resulted in immeasurable heartache and strife for generations.

Returning to the Path

These were just a few of the lapses of faith and acts of disobedience that marked Abraham’s life. It’s important to note, however, that although Abraham deviated from God’s path on occasion, he always came back. He never drifted too far from the One who made a covenant with him. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Romans 4:3 nlt). His faith was in God, not in his own ability to be perfect.

No stumble is too great, no fall is too steep, to recover from. First John 1:9 says, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (nlt). This is such a simple yet powerful truth! All you have to do is honestly tell God you’re sorry for what you did.

Acts 3:19 says, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away” (nlt). When you turn to God and away from the sin that caused you to stumble, you regain your forward momentum on the right path, just as Abraham did time and time again. It’s about a change of heart and direction, not about never falling again.

The Mark of a True Believer

If a person says he or she is a believer and falls away and never comes back, then that person is not a believer. The apostle John put it this way: “When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us” (1 John 2:19 nlt). But if a person is a true believer, then he or she will be miserable in sin and eventually will beat a quick path back to the cross of Calvary. You won’t find lasting peace or joy when you’re living outside of God’s will. Your spirit will ache until you come home.