In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus raised the bar. The religious leaders of his day were dumbing down the law, as if to say, its not as bad as you think. Gods not as serious as we thought He was. But everytime Jesus said, "youve heard it said...but I tell you..." He pushed the righteousness bar way up high and said: "Oh, by the way, you thought you were bad, its worse than you thought." But then in the same breath, He called him Father. Our Father. And our Father loves us in the midst of all our mess. Wait a minute, which one is it? Im a mess or Im loved? Its both. Im more messed up than I care to admit, and more loved than I ever imagined.