Transformation requires surrender. To forgive means allowing God to dismantle our private courtrooms—the inner dialogues where we replay evidence against others. It is admitting that our self-righteousness cannot coexist with His mercy.

A rope reminds us that connection is not automatic. It must be held. It must be trusted. So it is with the rope that binds humanity to the Father. This rope is no invention of ours. It is Christ Himself who anchors it above. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV).

There’s a moment—quiet, almost imperceptible—when we realize we’re not driving the restoration. We never were. The weight of grace finds us not when we’re sprinting toward holiness, but when we’ve stumbled face-first into the mud of our own limitations.