Finding Security in the Gift of Grace

Grace is an oft-misunderstood topic in the church. I think we’re all growing in our understanding of grace, but many of us grew up in church contexts believing we needed to earn our grace.

I was blessed to grow up with a fairly healthy understanding of God’s grace, the gift he freely gave me regardless of my action, inaction, or sin. My mom grew up in a church context that was centered on dos and don’ts. It was critical to attend services three times a week and dress certain ways. Drinking alcohol was out of the question. She was taught that many rules were necessary to earn God’s grace.

Ephesians 2 refutes this so clearly: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV).

As Christians, of course, we do have a way we should live. God gave us one precious word to guide us: love. Love God, love others—so simple, and yet so hard, and proof that simple does not equal easy.

I find it so interesting how this concept of grace unfolds. Someone who’s serving to earn grace can look the same as someone who’s serving because of God’s grace. The actions could be identical. But like so much else in our faith, our service comes down to the heart. What is our motivation? Have we truly accepted God’s gift of grace? Or are we still trying to earn it?

Here are a few ways to examine your heart, to discern the motivation there:

• Do you feel pressure to serve? Or do you experience joy from your service?
• Is your self-talk harsh and demanding? Or is it graceful and kind?
• Do you feel guilty about making time for yourself? Or do you prioritize self-care?
• Do you spend time in the Word out of habit or duty? Or do you crave time with God?
• Do you struggle to love others? Or do you find fulfillment in sacrificing for your neighbors?

If I’m honest, I must admit I say yes to both sides of these questions at different times. I imagine you can too. I truly believe, however, that God desires for us to live out of the latter questions.

While I grew up in a context with a strong understanding of grace, I didn’t fully and completely understand loving people. I loved the people who were easy to love. I was great at loving other Christians. But that’s kind of like saying I was great at loving my mom and dad. It’s easy to love the people who love you well, believe like you do, dress like you do, and think like you do.

When God plucked my husband and me out of our Bible Belt context, asked us to move to Denver and then (gasp!) to plant a church here, he graciously gave us hearts to love those who are different from us. Y’all (I’m from Texas), he even led us to call the church Fringe. We love our people, but some of them are on the fringes of faith or on the fringes of society. This can bring conflict and issues that might not be there if we’d called our church Just Like Us.

We have learned how important and rewarding it is to love others, but goodness, it’s not easy. Truly loving others sacrificially can open us up to vulnerabilities and risk hurt. While it stinks when this occurs, my hurts are nothing compared to what Jesus endured on the cross. I could experience a lifetime of hurts before they would compare to the overwhelming sacrifice Christ made for me. When I think about the fact that he would have made this sacrifice even if it had been just for me and not for all of humanity, I’m left speechless and willing to endure endless hurts if it brings even one soul closer to his kingdom.

Of course, God doesn’t often ask us to endure endless hurts, and he often gives us the encouragement we need to continue serving him. Just recently, after a somewhat discouraging season, I got a note from a work colleague. I work on a virtual team, and I hadn’t seen this friend in person in a few years. We’re connected on Facebook, though, and she saw my post here at the Glorious Table on forgiveness. She sent me a note to say the way I live out my faith—at work and even on social media—has encouraged her in her own faith. What a gift! That note will give me the courage and endurance to continue loving others in a way that serves Christ, even if the love is not reciprocated.

Here is my prayer for all of us seeking to live out our faith in Christ: May we find security in the gift of grace. May we seek to love others out of the gift of grace and not to try earning a gift that is freely given. May we be willing to endure the vulnerability and hurts that come with loving sacrificially, for our Savior endured far worse for us.

Amy Wiebe is a Jesus follower, wife, mom of three, church planter, finance director, and lover of sarcasm and deep conversation with friends. She also loves camping, rafting, skiing, sewing, and having people over. Amy blogs with her husband at fringechurch.com.

Photograph © Bobbo Sintes, used with permission