As a wife and mother, I really don’t like the times I have
to admit that my best isn’t good enough. In fact, I wonder how often I really
do admit it because as I think about it, it seems like I keep trying an awful
lot. That’s our reality though, isn’t it? Don’t quit. Keep trying. Work harder.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not for giving up after one
half-hearted attempt. I believe that we can’t succeed if we don’t bother to
try. And we definitely learn a lot from the mistakes we make.
But sometimes…our best efforts are simply not good enough.
We can live in guilt and regret over this fact, or we can
accept it. I accept it for others without smothering them with a guilt trip. I
suspect you do to. We extend grace.
But grace for ourselves seems to be so much harder. So, we
keep trying. We work harder. We keep beating ourselves up.
And yet, our best efforts still will not be good enough.
It sounds depressing, but it’s not—it’s freeing.
Because God extends to us His grace—His free and unearned
favor proffered to us.
Where we are not enough, He is more than enough. Always. (<==Click to
tweet.)
Our determination, strength,
energy, and hard work will never be enough to restore our relationship with
God—and we don’t have to—because God already has.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT
God offered the sacrifice we could never offer. He did the
work we cannot possibly do.
He gives us grace.
And through God’s grace, we are
able to extend grace to others—and ourselves.
Grace is freedom.
Freedom to no longer live in guilt and shame.
Freedom to accept that while our efforts are not enough,
God’s grace is more than enough.
Freedom to stop trying to do—and live in what’s already been done.
Freedom to breathe a sigh of thankful relief and live in His
grace.
In Christ,
Laura
[This post also be read in
its entirety at Gloria
Dei / Photo
credit: Stock
photo: Alone by lake]
