“By the Grace of God I am what I am…” – 1 Corinthians 15:10 KJV
At a very young age we are taught by our parents what we need to know to make it in the world. We are taught to say ‘Please’, and ‘Thank You”. And we learn early, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” We’re taught that in order to have what we need, and want we must earn it. Go after it. Somewhere along the way we heard that there’s no gain without pain; and that God helps those who help themselves. Failure is almost the unpardonable sin; so much so, that we idolize success, and enough just is not enough. We take these life lessons, and we run with them until, one day we meet Jesus. The Bible often compares life to a walk, because life is a journey. We’re not just sitting still. We’re on the move, making our goals, and setting out to reach them. And when we finish those, we set a new set and go after them.
Throughout the New Testament we are told to walk in wisdom. Walk in love. Walk in light. Walk in Obedience. We’re told to walk as Jesus is not like the one we learn early on, and yet while different, both are important, but setting my own goals and going after them almost implies that I walk alone. But when walking like Jesus, we learn that we ought to walk alongside other people. When you walk alongside others, you learn more, than if you walk alone. You could be going in the wrong direction, and not know it; but someone walking with you is apt to recognize that you may have veered off the path and need to find the right direction. In spite of what we’ve been taught about the singleness of our goals everybody has a longing for belonging, because God made us for relationships. When we walk alongside other Christians in community, we find that longing satisfied. We find that God’s grace doesn’t play favorites.
Regardless of status, background, or the sins we have committed, God loves us. His grace is for everyone. As we go about our lives, whether we are in competition or not; whether we like one another or not, you will never set eyes on anyone who Jesus didn’t die for. The heart of Christianity is that when God sent His Son to dies on a cross, He did it for the best, and the worst of us. God the least and the greatest of us. He did it for you, and me; and for them, who you may think undeserving. But we’re saved by grace. God blesses us by grace. God teaches us by grace, and when we die, He takes us to Heaven by grace. It is through our walk with Jesus, that we learn that our very lives is the gift of God, by grace. We are not our own, and you can only receive grace by faith. In other words He gives us what we cannot work for. He gives us what we cannot earn. He gives us what we don’t deserve. Grace is much more than just how we come to Christ. Why? Because it is He that came for us, and not the other ways around. The Bible is very clear that everything we have is by the Grace of God. I read somewhere that the angels in Heaven have a party every time one person responds to the grace of God. Whatever I am now it is all because God poured out such kindness and grace upon me (1 Corinthians 15:10a).
Submitted by Deaconess Irene Gardon