“...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24
For most of my life, I always felt as though I had to “earn” love and acceptance from others. My upbringing was violent and filled with instability and abandonment, so the only security I found in life was through my performance. The better I performed in school, the more attention and respect I seemed to get from my parents, relatives, friends, and teachers.
As a result of my high academic performance, I “earned” my way into college on a full scholarship. While there, I even “earned” the respect and adoration of a young man who was impressed by my drive for success. After dating for a short while, this young man decided to marry me because he saw that I was going places.
Fast forward 20 years to today, the coveted college degree that I earned was not enough to keep my marriage together. In five years of college, I never learned how to live in grace and mercy toward others. In fact, I expected everyone to be just as driven and goal-oriented as I was, and if they weren’t, I thought less of them and made them feel inferior, including my husband.
Thankfully, God got a hold of me and allowed all that I earned through my work and deeds to crumble! Even the adoration and respect that I once had from family and friends evaporated the minute my marriage and home was destroyed. Now I was the one being judged and made to feel inferior. Ouch!
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37
Through this journey, we call life, I have learned a thing or two about grace. I never had much use for it before because I was able to excel in just about everything I did. But now that I am living for Christ, I have come to understand that He will allow us to fall, stumble, make mistakes and fail miserably not to punish us but to teach us how to walk in grace and compassion toward others. Selah.
“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 2:7-9
By: Moms Rebuilding Their Homes
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