Grace Unknown

Grace.

What does that word mean to you?

I have to admit that it never really meant a lot to me, even though I accepted Christ when I was five (or younger).  I mean, I knew that that’s what God extended to us when He died on the cross to save us from our sins.  I knew that Jesus was the spotless lamb of God that came as the sacrifice for our atonement.

But yet.

All my life, I never really felt grace, never really knew grace until recently.

My entire life has been about performance.  Maybe if I do everything right, people won’t leave.  Maybe if I do everything right, I won’t be a disappointment.  If I could just be perfect…

I’ve heard recently (more than once) that how we live our lives reveals what we believe about God.

The truth is, when I got pregnant before I was married and then struggled as a single mom, I thought God was punishing me for my sin.  When people walked out of my life, I thought I did something to deserve it.  When finances were tight, I thought maybe I had done something to make God angry.

But really…that’s not how it works.

Now I’m not saying that God never gives us consequences for our actions.  Because I believe that if we continue in sin without repentance, we’ll eventually fall into natural consequences.  The natural consequences of overeating are diabetes, heart disease, back pain, and many other physical problems.  The natural consequences of financial irresponsibility are the inability to pay the bills, debt, and stress, among many other issues.  Those are just a couple of examples of the natural consequences we may face.

But when we recognize our sin and truly repent to God, it’s like remembering our salvation.  The acceptance of God’s grace.  It’s like Jesus dying on the cross all over again as our sacrifice.

What can we do to earn it?

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

Some of us fall into the same sin repeatedly, truly trying our best to get it right, repenting often.  Nobody’s perfect.  But I truly believe that if we’re sincere about our efforts, God recognizes that.

And even if we do suffer the consequences, when we realize our sin and repent, He can turn anything into a blessing.

The natural consequence to premarital sex in my life was a baby.  I recognized and repented for that sin, but that doesn’t make the consequence go away.  I had that baby, and she has been a blessing in my life for eight years.  Certainly, she tries my patience, but I wouldn’t trade her for anything.  He turned a natural consequence into a blessing and helped me to recognize it.

It’s so hard to grasp the fact that we received forgiveness for our sins without paying for it.  As I sit here writing about it, I struggle to wrap my brain around this concept.  I have a hard time accepting anything if I haven’t worked for it.  But it’s true!  It’s real!

If you take anything away from today, take God’s grace.

You don’t have to earn it.

You don’t have to work for it.

In fact, you can’t.

It’s given to you as a gift.

Accept it.  And know that even though you’re not perfect (shocking, I know) God loves you anyway!  Isn’t that awesome?  Take His grace with you today, and know that even when you mess up He’s waiting for you.  Amen!

When or how did you discover the truth of God’s grace?  I’d love for you to share your story in the comments.