For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:9
There is no place God’s grace won’t go, no place it cannot reach. It covers our impatience and pride, our daily failures, and our lifelong shame. It meets us in our every weakness, in our fears, and in each temptation this world tries to sell. It is offered to the most manipulative bullies, and to the hearts of abusers and thieves and murderers. It even finds its way right through the bars of prison cells. NOTHING can stop God’s amazing grace!
Yet many of us don’t reach up and grab what is offered. We would rather wallow in our guilt than fly in His freedom. We are more comfortable living in shame than truly embracing the forever forgiveness that sets us free. In this world, people lie, they pretend, they hurt others, they leave victims in their wake. And we have all been hurt by those people. That’s why we don’t follow people; we follow Jesus! We should never refuse God’s grace because of what people have done—we love and follow Jesus because of what HE has done! As followers of Christ, we aren’t living in this world anyway. We are living in God’s Kingdom. Here. Now. And in God’s Kingdom, He calls us to live holy lives, because He loves us and His plans never fail. What God says, He means. What God says…He does!
God’s grace is right in front of you. Refusing to fully embrace that grace is essentially telling Jesus that He endured the cross for nothing. It isn’t a puzzle to solve, a prize to win, or a goal to achieve. It is grace: God’s favor that cannot be earned. It is forgiveness, it is real, and it is free. It can’t be manipulated. It can only be received. The only appropriate response to God’s incredible gift is to live a holy life for Jesus. What He did can’t be undone, it cannot change, and it can never be forgotten! But what YOU do can! Choose to live each day in the holiness of God’s grace! But don’t just hold onto it…SHARE it! You are loved!