Living in a World Without Grace

By Hazel Holland

From time to time God's wonderful message of grace gets diluted in this earthly vessel of mine. Although I don't want to pass on the awful legalism of my upbringing, at times I know I am guilty of perpetuating the very judgmental attitudes I grew up with, particularly in the way I criticize or condemn myself.

Although I know that I'm accepted in Jesus Christ and I'm so thankful that I don’t have to earn God’s approval, I still continue to beat myself up at times when I don't accomplish everything on that dreaded “to do list”.

My failure to accomplish certain tasks on that list is often met with harsh self-criticism at the end of the day. Even my New Year's Resolutions recently fell by the wayside long before the first day of the New Year ever ended. Sadly, Christianity’s best gift to the world became momentarily lost to my aching heart when I chose to give myself ungrace instead of grace.

I have discovered that if I measure my worth by how far I have progressed down that list, my “to do list” becomes my cruel taskmaster, and I find myself struggling to live in a world without grace.

If I do give in to that uneasiness that grabs me by the throat and won’t release its grip on me until I finish doing one more chore even though it’s late and I’m dead tired, then I’m choosing to live in a world without grace.

Every time the tentacles of ungrace try to wrap themselves around my weary soul I must refuse to receive their harsh message of unforgiveness that is an echo from my past. I must choose to see my failures in the glorious light of God’s overwhelming grace.

Perhaps my flaws and blemishes are the very places through which God’s grace can pass so that I can get a better view of how He sees me—of how He sees all His precious children.

As I acknowledge my weaknesses and see myself as a sinner who cannot please God by any self-help method of improvement, I find that I freely receive the much needed help that God offers me—His perfect life is credited to my account in exchange for my imperfect life and many failures.

The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. God’s grace is given free of charge to people who don’t deserve it. I am one of those people. And so are you.

As I continue to give God’s grace away to others, I hope it will become easier to receive more of God’s grace for myself. I am tired of living in a world without grace. How about you?