We sing “Amazing Grace,” but do we really believe that it’s amazing?
A former neighbor had an affair with a married man, resulting in a child that she chose to keep. (He’s an adorable little three-year-old boy with a personality that won’t quit!) But his mother truly believes that she deserves nothing better than casual flings because she “ruined” her life. She believes that no man who is “worth anything” would want her.
A childhood friend went through a painful divorce many years ago now and actually thinks that God can’t use him because of it. So now he lives without true hope, thinking that God somehow loves him in a lesser way. Because of that way of thinking, he lives a life that is based on temporal values and temporal relationships. He thinks he deserves nothing deeper than that.
A high school student was known as—and labeled as—a “goof off” during his junior high years, primarily due to a major change in location for his family, which he was struggling through. Though the behavior was no longer a part of his life, he just “gave up” on school, on his dreams, and on believing that he could make positive changes in his life.
Grace isn’t grace because we earn it, deserve it, or have any rights to it. That’s what makes it grace. When we realize the true potency of grace, we move beyond the past and claim “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”
Through grace, we make change. By accepting the reality and power of grace, we can accept God’s unconditional love. By grace, we live transformed lives.
Regardless of the lack of grace bestowed upon us by others whose pride says, “Thank goodness, that’s not me! I never would have made those wrong choices,” we have the unfathomable grace of God that says, “I valued you enough to offer you My grace. Therefore, My grace gives you value. Accept it and live accordingly.”
When we try to add our worth to that, we can’t claim what He offers. We’ll come up short, and we’ll think we only deserve to continue on the downward path that we’re currently on.
But because of grace—just His amazing grace—we have hope. We can change. We can move forward. We can realize that His grace is more than enough. We can sing, with renewed hearts, “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. ‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”