Whether you’ve been pursuing God on some level for many years, or this journey is brand new to you, getting past yourself is something everyone has to do. At some point, every follower of Jesus Christ must come to the realization that they simply aren’t good enough. We all deal with sin, we all make mistakes, and we all feel the guilt that accompanies these things.
For many of us, reading the Bible raises more questions than answers. And when we do actually understand what the Bible is saying, we’re pretty sure we aren’t living up to it all the way. The same thing happens at church. We look around and convince ourselves that everyone else is a better follower of Jesus than we will ever be, and we may even wonder if we’re just fooling ourselves and if this journey toward God is even possible. Sometimes it may feel as if the only thing you’re sure of is that you’re still making mistakes and are so far from perfect. None of those feelings is a shock to God, and you’re not alone in dealing with any or all of these mental roadblocks.
What’s most important in the whirlwind of mind games is that you constantly remind yourself of the truth of the Word of God, and that is: you aren’t perfect, you will never be perfect, and you don’t have to be.
God loves and accepts you just the way you are, right here, right now! You haven’t earned God’s forgiveness and love, and you will never have to. You are saved by grace! If you’ve put your faith in Jesus, you are on your way to heaven because of what He did for you, and not because of anything you have or have not done for Him. Your eternal destination is now different, and you didn’t do anything to earn this trip.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
The word “grace” refers to the unmerited favor and eternal life that God gives us, even though we don’t deserve it. God makes it really clear to us that we are “saved” from going to hell and we get to go to heaven because we put our faith in Him. We don’t get to go to heaven because we earn it, because we’re good enough, or because we did enough good things. The flip side to this
coin is we don’t lose heaven because we sinned earlier this week or had doubts or have occasional setbacks. We get heaven because after putting our trust in God, God chose to give us the free gift of eternal life with Him.
How amazing it is to have this free gift of eternal life with God! We don’t ever have to earn God’s love and forgiveness; we just get it, and because we do, one day we’ll be in heaven with God forever. That’s an amazing thing!
Movement Day 3
TO DO
Spend some time thinking about how your life is different because of God’s free gift of grace. Thank God for this grace, and thank Him for other blessings in your life that you have but you never had to earn.
TO READ
• MATTHEW 3
• PROVERBS 3
• Write down one thought.
TO REMEMBER
Grace changes everything. When it comes to you and God, you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have to earn His love, forgiveness, or acceptance; you just have it! You can’t lose His love or salvation because you have a bad day or a regretful week. You can’t undo your salvation experience because you made some mistakes. You didn’t earn salvation; in fact, you can’t earn it. It’s a free gift from God, and it’s all yours!
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