And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
2 Corinthians 9:8–9 (NKJV)
There’s a lot of teaching on grace today, and I love it. We just need to remember that grace is not simply God’s ability to put up with your sin. That’s mercy. Grace includes his power to change!
It is true that God loves you despite all your mess-ups and problems. God is not angry with you; he accepts you the way you are and you don’t have to earn his love. But his grace doesn’t stop there. His grace also includes the power he has placed within every believer to change, grow, adopt his values and make choices that align with his thinking.
God loves you even when you mess up, but he knows how much pain and sorrow these mess-ups can bring. His grace is at work within you, which means he’s partnering with you, empowering you to make great choices so you can live the best life.
Accessing God’s grace is about experiencing the promises in God’s Word because they all come to us by grace—through his unmerited, unearned favour. It’s about experiencing joy, victory over sin, health in your body, peace in your home and developing relationships that are alive and strong.
Recognize that God loves you, but realize also that his grace is empowering you as a believer to be conformed to the image of Jesus. You can walk and talk like Jesus through the transformative power of his grace.