“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
“I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. It was not the result of your own efforts . . . God has made us what we are.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NCV)
Points to Ponder:
As a child, I was taught that I had to be good to please my parents. The problem with that is that I didn’t always know what good was. And I never seemed to be good enough. If I made A’s and B’s on my report card, I was asked why I didn’t make straight A’s. And since there was a different set of standards for my brothers than there was for me, there were times that I would get in trouble and I didn’t even know what I had done wrong. Or the slightest “infraction” brought horrible punishment and consequences.
So I grew up thinking that God was the same way. That there were different levels of good. That the only way for me to please God and to get into Heaven was to be good ~ all the time. And there have been times in my life when I thought that I did something so bad that there was no way I was good enough to get into Heaven so why even bother trying?
Even now there are times that I am so afraid of doing something wrong or disobeying God because I’m afraid I’ll get punished. And I wonder how many times this fear of retribution and punishment has stopped me from obeying God because I’m afraid of the punishment that could happen if I get the message wrong or do the wrong thing.
I remember when I was in about kindergarten, or first grade, I accidentally opened a gift that was for one of my brothers. I was yelled at and told that I was selfish and greedy because I didn’t stop and read the tag. I was a child . . . . I probably couldn’t even read at that age!!! But I got in trouble anyway. I didn’t measure up. I wasn’t good enough.
I think a lot of those instances shaped me into a person who could be paralyzed with fear to not make a move because I could get punished if I make the wrong move.
I know that God loves me. And I am learning that He loves me no matter what. I’m also learning that even when I make a wrong move, He will pour out His grace and love on me, gently take me by the hand and lead me the right way. Not because I have to be good or good enough. Not because of what I do or don’t do. But only because I believe Him and believe in Him and because He loves me beyond anything I can ever imagine. It’s that simple . . . He loves us and washes us with His grace because we believe Him and He loves us that much.
When we have Jesus with us, we don’t have to be good enough. Because there is no way we can ever attain that very lofty goal. How can we ever be good enough when we don’t even know what good enough is?
Thankfully, we don’t have to be good enough. Because Jesus died for us and that was good enough for all of us. No matter what we’ve done; no matter how far we stray, He will always love us. Because our journey to His Kingdom cannot be attained by how good we are or how much “good” we do. It’s only because God loves us so much that He sacrificed His only Son for us. It is by Jesus’ blood and God’s grace that we are invited into His Kingdom. And that is good enough for me.
Father, I thank you so much for the amazing and undeserved gift of Your grace and love. Help us to stop comparing our good deeds with others. Help us to stop striving to be good enough and to just do what we know is right. Help us to understand that You do not love us because we’re perfect. You do not love us because we’re good enough. You love us because You chose us to be Yours. Forgive me for those times that I’m so focused on the being good and the doing good that I miss You. Thank You, Father, for Your Son, Jesus, who sacrificed everything so that we could have a path to You. We do not deserve it. And that’s what makes it so special. Teach us to just be with You and let You be with us. You are awesome, Jesus!!! And we give all that we are and all that we have to You. Amen ~robin
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