Re-evaluating Grace.

I have a confession to make. I can be a prideful person, and I found myself becoming very prideful/arrogant/self-righteous over the past year or so. I'm not a perfect person. There is nothing that's righteous about me. Sure I may do some nice things here and there, but I'm still a sinner.

With that being said, I came to re-evaluate what grace is. I was challenged by Judah Smith's book titled, "Jesus is ____".

I have good days and bad days, and I evaluate them on what I did that day. If I did something nice, kind, or productive, then it was a good day. If I gave into temptation and sinned, then it was a bad day. Let me tell you this. That mindset is terrible. It will make you beat yourself up on the bad days, and it will make you prideful on the good days. But here is what's worst of all, everything is centered on what I/YOU do. You're completely ignoring the grace that we have received through Christ.

I'm ashamed to say that I lost sight of this. I took pride in what "rules/laws" I followed. For example, I fed the homeless and gave to the poor. And I punished myself when I failed to do what was right. Basically, I was just like a Pharisee.

Then I realized that it doesn't matter what you do. Here's what I mean. You can't do anything to gain grace. And you can't do anything to lose it. You can't change that. When Jesus said "It is finished", we received the fullest extent of forgiveness and grace.

The acts of kindness/forgiveness we do shouldn't be out of pride/self-righteousness. It's a manifestation of the grace we know and have received. I do these things because I know I'm loved by God. I know that may sound weird, but I hope one day you'll come to understand what I've recently experienced.

Now here's a huge topic that many people struggle with. People ask, "If God will always forgive me, then can I go sin and do whatever I want and then come back and repent?" If you're asking this question, you've already missed the point. But technically, the answer is yes.

Here's where Judah Smith comes to explain grace. Grace is not a concept. Grace is a person. Jesus is Grace. Let me share Judah Smith's analogy.

Imagine your spouse. If you don't have one, then think about the person that loves you the most (your parents, grandparents, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc). Your spouse loves you for who you are. He/she will love you no matter how much you mess up. He/she will still love you if you cheat on him/her. He/she will still love you if you lose your job, house, car, etc. So if you know you'll be loved no matter how many mistakes you make, would you willingly, lose your job, murder, and cheat on your significant other, etc? No, that makes no sense.

Grace is a person. It's not a concept. When we understand that, then the playing field changes. You don't want to do horrible things against the person who unconditionally loves you. That's just terrible. But there will be times when you mess up, and that's okay because you'll be forgiven and loved.

Don't think about not messing up. Focus on Jesus.