Grace is such an amazing concept. I’m not talking about the earthly idea of grace, which is simply elegance in your actions. I am talking about the free and unmerited favor of God. The idea of grace is something that is totally taken for granted in today’s world. Grace is what makes the gospel so sweet. Grace is the very thing that allows for our sins to be forgiven, which allows us to be with Jesus in Heaven for eternity, if we simply believe that He is our savior. Can you think of any person you know that would love you completely unconditionally? I mean completely, even in their thoughts. It is against human nature to love someone just as much after they do something to hurt you, as before they chose to do so. Guess what? Jesus does.
To be honest, all of my life I have been a goody two shoes, and so the idea of someone forgiving me for doing something ‘bad’ didn’t feel like something I could really relate to. This of course comes from my pride of thinking that I’m not ‘that bad’ of a sinner that gets me thinking that way. I am still guilty of thinking this way, and what’s ironic is that this very mindset is a sin in itself and needs the very grace I am describing. College is an interesting time for discovering what grace really means. I have had a lot of people in my life make me feel like I am not good enough, and I think I look to other people for approval, sometimes without even noticing it. When I was going through a Bible study this year, I was describing how worthless I have felt at points in my life, and then it asked us to write how you think God sees you. I wrote the words ‘He sees me as a clean, beautiful slate’. I felt God saying those words to me as I wrote them, and I couldn’t help but start crying. It was just a revelation to me. People will always fail, because no one is perfect, but God is a solid rock that I can lean on. He never fails, and he never stops loving us.
The beauty of grace is that God loves you right now where you are. He forgives despite our brokenness. Good luck finding a love like that in other places. You won’t. Nothing can fulfill us like God can and no one forgives like Jesus does. I hope that you live every day knowing that you are loved no matter what choices you have made or will make in the future. Know that there is a God who loves you UNCONDITIONALLY. That is not something to be ignored. That is something to be celebrated. The God who created the ground beneath your feet right now and the stars you see at night loves you even more than you can imagine. Jesus died on the cross for that.
Does this all mean that you should live a life full of sin purposefully every day because you have a free pass? Of course not. I believe that if Jesus is truly your Lord and Savior that you will have His love in your heart and your actions will follow. Are we going to mess up? You bet we are. The cool part is that when we do mess up, which we will because we are human, God just sees the cross. Just like that, He sees Jesus instead of our mistakes, and our slate is wiped clean. All we have to do is ask. This allows such a freedom and comfort in knowing Jesus.
What I hope you get out of all of this is that Grace is so much more than the earthly definition of how you carry yourself, but it is something that we are able to receive from Jesus that changes our life and our eternity. Live a life sharing that love we receive, so that as many people as possible can get to know the awesome God you know. I can’t wait until we all join together in Heaven and celebrate that great love forever. The grace we receive is amazing, past our comprehension, and I hope that this love and gospel we receive through it is something you live your whole life sharing.
“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
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
