The great grace of God toward us exists our growth. He is the One Who is responsible for our maturity and progress.
God doesn’t see us mostly as “forgiven”, though we ought to pause and see ourselves that way once in a while.
God doesn’t see us mostly as “immature”, though we ought to pause and see ourselves that way once in a while.
God sees us as His beloved children. He’ll protect us. He’ll help us. He’ll teach us. He’ll provide for us. He even died for us. All this because He will do whatever it takes to master and mature us into the most beautiful craftsmanship Heaven knows.
Unlike the angels having been born into Glory, God grows us into Glory. This happens with our cooperation and perseverance, but God is at the helm the whole time.
That’s the message of “grace”—God is at the helm, growing and guiding us. We didn’t ask for this. We didn’t invent this. We couldn’t even dream of this. God has great plans and if we simply don’t give up, if we lean into Him and take some initiative to get steady droplets of Bible and conversational prayer into our regular habits, we throw fuel on the fire of our inner growth that God already kindled in our hearts.
Don’t ever misunderstand “grace” as permission to return to a mundane version of so-called “morality” nor as permission to amuse ourselves with the boredom of a life lacking the power of morals from above. Likewise, never think that you need to know your problems in order for God to deal with them. God will deal with your problems. He already knew your problems before you were born. You can’t even comprehend your own problems let alone their solutions; God has all that under control.
“Grace” means God is at the helm, growing us.
Move forward and know that God has you. You need initiative and momentum, effort, and the confidence that God will gladly forgive you when you fail from getting out into the world to try. So, don’t stay home to guarantee sinlessness. Get in the game and know that God holds you in His hand.
Psalm 139:10, Isaiah 41:10-13, John 10:29, Ephesians 2:1-10