You Have a Choice to Make

Grace is a gift – that’s a simple definition of grace. But like any gift, we can reject it or we can accept it.

The apostle John said that Jesus came “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). John saw the connection between believing and receiving / accepting the grace of Christ.

He wrote, “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). The NLT says, “to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 NLT). To believe in Christ, to believe in God’s grace – is to accept it, to receive it. 

God’s grace does indeed save us and change us. That’s what Scripture teaches, and I completely believe that. However, we must respond to God’s grace. We must “do something” with it. Accept it. Receive it. Open our hands to it, and let God’s grace work through every nook and cranny in our lives.

A Repeated Theme

However, it’s been my experience (personally and seeing it in others) that deep down, we bristle at the idea of grace. Even among Christians.

I’ve talked with and counseled many who have struggled with certain sins and consequently, carry so much guilt and shame (sometimes for decades), and there’s a repeated theme …

After uncovering much of the surface level issues going on in their lives, I’ve noticed an underlying root: We don’t see God as gracious. We think He’s keeping tabs on us. He’s upset or disappointed with us. He sees us as dirty and unlovable. Sure He saves us … but He kind of regrets it. That’s the unexpressed feeling I struggle with, and I know many others do as well.

Buried beneath much of our sin and shame and suffering is a distorted picture of God. We don’t see Him as gracious. We don’t want to accept His grace – we want to work something out ourselves. We don’t want to accept God for who He is. We’d rather live with who we think He is and should be.

But thankfully, God’s grace keeps chasing us down.

You Have a Choice to Make

When you finally see a clear picture of God in all His grace, you have a choice to make.

Are you going to hold on to your distorted picture of God, or are you going to replace it with a clear picture of God?

Are you going to hold on to your idea of God who is: often angry with you or at least mildly disappointed … who offers you maybe a little help here and there but is otherwise disinterested in you? Or are you going to run into the arms of the true, gracious God who not only saves you but changes you and even delights in you … who freely and abundantly offers you grace each day?

What you believe about God will lead you down two very different paths. So you have a choice to make. 

• Are you going to accept God for who you think He is … or for who He actually is?
• Are you going to accept what you think you deserve … or are you going to accept His grace?
• Are you going to minimize or ignore your suffering … or allow His grace to heal you?
• Are you going to beat yourself up every time you sin … or are going to accept His grace and forgiveness?
• Are you going to look at your successes and breakthroughs as your own doing … or are you going to acknowledge His grace in the matter?
• Are we going to look to His grace just to save you (and not change you) … or are we going to look to His grace for everything?

God’s grace does indeed change everything. But we must do something with it. We must believe God is gracious. We must accept His grace. Receive it. We must allow God’s grace to work through every area of our lives, especially the areas we don’t want to talk about. Finally, we must celebrate and worship God for His grace – and share it with others.

I want to joyfully explore God’s grace with you. But I also want to talk about accepting His grace and see how it can transform our lives. That’s what the book will be about, and that’s what I hope to explore with you. Until the book is completed, please follow along on this site and join me on the Accepting Grace social media channels.