Amazing Grace

It has been over a year since I heard him say it, but he said it often enough that it is etched in my memory – the sincerity of his voice and the imploring look in his eyes. “The message at my funeral is not stories of my virtue, but of God’s grace.” Dad, if you knew him well, was not a man who even seemed to need grace. For as long as I can remember he was kind and wise and generous and all things good. But, he was adamant. “I am nothing without the grace of God. I accomplish nothing of value without His saving grace.” He understood fully that we truly are empty shells of good intentions… or devious schemes… until God’s grace begins to mold us into what we are to become for His story, and His glory.

It is true. He was right. God’s grace is essential for each of us. It is the beginning of shaping us into the person that He made us to be…the particular purpose He has for us to fulfill. We can’t achieve it with our good intentions or with our knowledge or with consistent practice. His grace is the ingredient that gives us moldability. It is what enables us to be supple clay in the hands of the Potter. It removes the hardened stones that prevent our spiritual formation; that keep us from being a vessel that His Spirit can inhabit. It softens us with living water, cleansing the inherit sin that hides our true worth.

Here is the truth about grace. It is a gift that transforms us if we are willing to be transformed. It is not a blanket forgiveness policy that enables us to continue to live according to our desires or seek to fulfill our plans regardless of God’s will. If His grace doesn’t bring about a new life for us then we have refused the gift He came to bring. If your kids kept repeating the same offense and you constantly extended grace without consequences, they would not grow and mature and develop into responsible adults. If your spouse extends grace to you, but you never change the behavior that hurts them, that grace accomplished nothing other than an increase in bad behavior and more pain in your relationship.

This Christmas take a tip from my Dad. Allow God’s grace to transform you… your marriage… your family… your relationships. Stop trying to accomplish perfection by what you do or don’t do. Instead, let the grace He came to bring begin to shape you into that person that makes you appear to not even need grace! It worked for my Dad! Don’t kid yourself into believing that your efforts are enough. We are nothing without the grace that is a free gift from God. Accepting His life-changing grace will change everything! That’s why it’s called AMAZING!