Grace Makes Us Honest

Our Tendency to Hide

When Adam and Eve sinned, they covered themselves and hid (Genesis 3:7–8). We’ve been doing the same thing ever since.

Whether its our sin or our pain and suffering and struggles … we often hide it, minimize it, or ignore it. We do this for a variety of reasons:

• We feel guilty or ashamed.
• We don’t think it’s a big deal.
• We don’t want to deal with it.
• We don’t know how to change.
• We don’t believe we can change.
• We actually enjoy the particular sin.
• We get some type of “payoff” from the sin (relief, comfort, pleasure, sense of identity, etc.)

All of these reasons keep us in a cycle of sin and suffering and do not help us break free from the particular struggles we face.

Grace changes all that.

But how?

The Good News of God’s Grace

In essence, God’s grace declares: I know everything about you. I know all your history, every single sinful and painful thought you’ve had. I know the struggles you’ve had, the ones you currently have, and the many you will have. I know what you’ve done, what you haven’t done, what you’ve said, what you should have said and didn’t say. I know the regrets. I know what has been done to you. I am more aware of your sin and your pain than you know. I know how you are going to fail a year from now and a decade from now … And I love you with all my heart. I accept you. I forgive you. You’re my son. You’re my daughter. You’re mine. I’ll never leave you or forsake you.

That’s the “good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24). The Lord didn’t wait until we cleaned ourselves up. Jesus came to us in our sin, in our brokenness, in our pain.

• “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
• “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).
• “You are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

God graciously meets us where we are, accepts us as we are, and loves us as we are. We don’t have to worry, “if I’m honest with God, He’ll reject me.” We don’t have to beat ourselves up or try harder, as if somehow that would make us more forgivable in God’s eyes. We don’t have to twist His arm to make Him compassionate toward our broken condition. He is compassionate and gracious. That’s the natural bent of His heart. The Bible says, “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:8–9).

Grace and forgiveness come first, not our performance. Since we are deeply loved, completely forgiven, and graciously accepted by God – we don’t have to hide. We don’t have to cover things up. We can walk with God and be honest about our sin and struggles and pain.

Admitting Your Faults, Accepting His Grace

The reality of grace means you can be honest about your sin and struggles. There’s nothing you can tell God that He hasn’t already forgiven. Everything you bring to the table … He already knows.

Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, puts it this way:

“The Good News means we can stop lying to ourselves. The sweet sound of amazing grace saves us from the necessity of self-deception. It keeps us from denying that though Christ was victorious, the battle with lust, greed, and pride still rages within us. As a sinner who has been redeemed, I can acknowledge that I am often unloving, irritable, angry, and resentful with those closest to me. When I go to church, I can leave my white hat at home and admit I have failed. God not only loves me as I am, but also knows me as I am. Because of this I don’t need to apply spiritual cosmetics to make myself presentable to Him. I can accept ownership of my poverty and powerlessness and neediness.

When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.

To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am and what God’s grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, ‘A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God'” (pgs. 21, 25).

Grace is an Invitation

The central idea behind the Accepting Grace book I’m working on is this: If accepting God’s grace changes your eternal destiny, then it must be at the root of untold, exciting potential change in your life now.

Accepting God’s grace changes your eternity, and it can change your life now. So consider grace as an invitation from the Lord. It’s an invitation to change. It’s an invitation to walk with Him and be honest about what’s going on in your heart.

• Grace is an invitation to be honest about your sin, your pain, your struggles.
• Grace is an invitation to leave your phoniness and performance behind.
• Grace is an invitation to stop lying, minimizing, and ignoring your struggles.
• Grace is an invitation to stop hiding.
• Grace is an invitation to be healed.
• Grace is an invitation to let go of all that guilt and shame.
• Grace is an invitation to live in the freedom of forgiveness.
• Grace is an invitation to trust God with everything you don’t want to talk about.
• Grace is an invitation to experience a true, authentic, honest relationship with God.
• Grace is an invitation to experience His love in every area of your life.

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I hope this site encourages you as we explore God’s grace together.

Until the Accepting Grace book is completed, please follow along on this site and join me on the Accepting Grace social media channels.