for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
It's easy to hear "all have sinned" as an accusation aimed at someone worse than you. But read it again — it doesn't say some, or most, or everyone except the people trying hard. It says all. No carve-out for people with good intentions, people who mean well, people who are, on balance, decent.
That can land as bad news, and in one sense it is. But there's something quietly relieving buried in it too. If the standard is falling short of God's glory, then the gap isn't something you crossed by being unusually bad. It's the human condition, not a personal failing that marks you out from everyone else pretending to have it together.
That reframes the question people usually bring to religion. It's not "am I good enough yet," because the verse already answers that — no. The more honest question becomes what anyone, having fallen short, is supposed to do about it. This verse doesn't answer that part yet. It just clears the ground first, so nobody's pretending otherwise.
If falling short turns out to be universal rather than personal, does that change how hard you've been on yourself?
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.