The Cross We Keep Coming Back To

Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026

Scripture: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Reflection:  On Sunday we ask a question that Christians have been asking for two thousand years, Why did Jesus have to die? I don’t think it’s wrong to ask that. Faithful people have wrestled with it from the beginning. The disciples struggled to understand it. Paul reached for image after image trying to describe it. The early church developed different ways of explaining it and the cross still does not fit into one neat formula. Friends maybe that’s because the cross is not just an answer, it’s an encounter. The cross stands at the center of our faith and at the edge of our understanding. In the scripture today Paul says those who are “being saved.” Not just saved once or waiting to be saved later. But being saved, as in right now. In Scripture salvation is described in three tenses. We have been saved (Ephesians 2:8).

We are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18). We will be saved (Romans 5:9–10). I know that we all have a moment when grace became personal and when faith moved from inherited to chosen. And that moment matters. But friends it’s not like the cross was not working before that moment or that it stopped after that moment. The cross is still shaping you. Salvation is not a past-tense trophy. It is a present-tense transformation. When we ask why Jesus died then the cross becomes a mirror.  Because in reality the cross exposes us and forgives us at the same time. That is grace. The world defines power as control, dominance, and winning while the cross defines power as surrender, forgiveness, and self-giving love. The cross tells us that real strength is not found in protecting ourselves at all costs — but in trusting God enough to give ourselves away. Every time you forgive when it would be easier to hold a grudge you are being saved. Every time you choose humility over ego you are being saved. The cross is not just something we admire or wear around our neck. The cross is not only about what happened in Jerusalem long ago. It is about what God is doing in you today.

Consider This:

• This week, don’t try to solve the mystery. Stand before it.
• Let the cross do what it has always done. Expose what is broken and heal it with grace and then come back again and again and again
• Where might God still be saving you? Is there a relationship that needs healing? A habit that needs to be dropped?
• The cross is not only about what happened in Jerusalem long ago. It is about what God is doing in you today.

Prayer: Lord Jesus,I don’t fully understand the cross but I trust You. Socontinue saving me from myself and whatever gets in the way of us. Teach me the way of surrender.Shape my heart into Yours and help me live in the power of the cross this week.Amen.