Grace

Everyday I receive the “Positive and Encouraging Word” from Klove. Today the scripture was Ephesians 2:8. Immediately I thought, “Wouldn’t this be a great first topic to talk about?”

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
~ Ephesians 2:8, NLT

I used to think I had to pay God back for this gift (which I didn’t even understand). You CANNOT pay this one back. We do not earn grace and we are not saved by works. We cannot work for grace, we cannot do anything for God’s love, because he loves us ANYWAY.

Grace is an interesting concept. My pastor, Billy McGuiggen has been talking about discipleship, and has talked about how God loves us anyway. He doesn’t love us if, or love us when, he loves us anyway. Are you loving people anyway? Are you showing grace to those around you? Do people feel as though they can come to you no matter what? Do people approach you with problems? People used to approach me, but maybe we, including myself, need to start thinking about looking at how God loves us and how God shows grace to us and then show that to others. I am not a perfect example of this by any means, but I know I need to work at loving like God does, but I know with even how imperfect I am, He still gives me the gift of grace and love, even if I don’t give it to others.

As a culture we have a heart problem. I know most of the time I love if or when. I have a hard time loving anyway. If we are going to be true people of God and invest in God’s kingdom, we need to show the world who God is and have an unfailing love. He lives, He loves and is always with us, but for those around us that feel as though there is no more hope and can’t feel God, that is where we come in. We need to be His hands and feet and serve those around us, but not that we earn His love and grace, but so that others can feel His love and grace.

When I first became a Christian, even to upwards of a year ago, I thought I had to work for what God gave me. I thought I HAD to go out and serve, I thought I HAD to earn grace and love by works. This really distorted my relationship with God. I didn’t feel His love because I thought I wasn’t doing enough. That is the problem with feeling as though we have to work for God’s love and grace; what is enough? There is no such thing as enough. We could never serve enough for God’s love and grace, that’s why it is a gift. We all fall short, so we have to accept His gift. We are a broken and lost generation, but we have one thing that is for sure; that we are saved by God’s love and grace. All He asks in return is for us to love Him and our neighbor. Is that too hard?

I want to make it clear though, we are not doing this to earn salvation or grace from God. We as believers already have that in the bag. We should as Christians, from the overflowing of our hearts, feel compassion for those around us as God does and love people for who they are, what they are, and where they are. God loves the sinner, not the sin, and believe it or not, we are ALL sinners. So what’s holding you back?

Please leave your comments and thoughts - and if you would like to share about what is holding you back, please use this as a forum if you feel comfortable…