Meet Grace

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Grace is divine, a gift from God to you. He offers new life based on nothing you have to offer. There is no way to earn His affections or coax His love for you. He already delights in you and befriends you. The fact that you are struggling and feel like such a failure doesn’t impact Him. When you fail, He says, ‘Not to worry. I am with you and we can start afresh. Lean on Me, not on your own strength. I am strong when you are weak. I have a plan and purpose for your life that I’m dying to reveal.’

This guy seems too good to be true, you think. Perhaps there is a catch. But as you become more acquainted with Grace, you see He is authentic. There is no pretending. He is compassionate and He cares deeply. And He has the capacity to be intimately involved in your life. His friendship and promises are mind-boggling. Apparently He has quite the reputation for being ‘The Man,’ despite His feminine name. One reason relates to His astounding ability to see sin, not excuse it, but love anyway. He hangs out with the failed, the most
desperate, and the most defeated. He walks along, holding their hands and pours out healing salve, mercy, and hope. Grace is shocking in the way He upholds the unlovely.

Grace’s passion for you is so powerful that it overcomes your fears. Grace understands the angst involved in doing what you hate’overeating, overspending, watching Internet pornography,
succumbing to drugs or alcohol, gossiping, or raging’and says, ‘Hey, you can’t do this on your own. I am here to help you change your life. Without Me, it’s pretty hopeless’a sort of grit-your-teeth-and-hang-on existence. You need Me in your life. Take me on your journey.’

Who is this marvelous friend? John 1:17 reveals Him: ‘For the law was given through Moses: grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ The grace of God is revealed through the divine person and work of Jesus Christ. He both embodied grace and benefited from grace. By His death and resurrection on the cross, Christ brought salvation to each of us and restored our broken relationship with God. The Holy Spirit, called the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), is the one who binds Christ to us so that we can receive forgiveness, adoption, and new life. God’s grace abounds in our lives. He is for us, not against us. He cheers us on to victory, and He uses others to pour out that grace in our lives as well.

Counting the Costs

Grace is an amazing gift from God. But it does not entitle us to a free ride with no effort on our part. Overcoming our sin under a shower of God’s grace still requires sacrifice and pain. It’s going to cost you more than just developing some good intentions. However, in our experience, few people really count the costs.

Do you recall the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler found in Matthew 19:16-22? The story illustrates the importance of counting the costs before you make your decision. In the story, there is a rich young ruler who approaches Jesus and says, ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’ Jesus answers by stating five of the ten commandments and adds that the man should love his neighbor as himself. The young man acknowledges having done all these things and further asks, ‘What do I still lack?’ To which Jesus replies, ‘Sell what you have and give to the poor’come, follow Me.’ Suddenly, the rich young ruler feels the weight of what he has been asked to do. (Ironically, he doesn’t feel the weight of this when Jesus recites the commandments to him. He should have felt the weight of not loving and worshiping perfectly. He does not, so Jesus tries another avenue.) It’s one thing to be good and keep the commandments, another to give up what he already has (or thinks he has). You see, his wealth really wasn’t his problem. A divided heart was the issue. He wasn’t sure he could give up his security for the promise of eternal life. Sadly, he did not follow Jesus because he concluded that the cost was too great.

Do you see the parallels? Whenever you make a decision to change things about your life, there are costs to consider, and your heart cannot be divided as you decide. Notice the specific answer Jesus gives. There is no question what is required’total surrender. In order to live a life undefined by your sin, your heart condition is critical. The good outcome you desire requires changes of behavior, thinking, and the heart.

Even though this might be difficult to accept, it should be a source of hope for you. It is a change of heart that sustains change. Heart change is not easy work, but it is easier than staying where you are and experiencing the same frustrations and failures.

Excerpted from the book Lose it For Life by Steve Arterburn
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This article was used with permission from New Life Ministries
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