We’ve all been in situations in which we intellectually knew the right thing to do to please God, but couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. Religion tells us that Jesus is enough for our salvation, as long as we perform well enough to meet His requirements. The truth is that when we’re struggling, God’s grace—and His grace alone—bears us up, sustains us, and gives us the strength and courage we need to follow through. Jesus, who is Grace, is more than enough.

We don’t have to worry that if we don’t do everything right, God will cut us off. He accepts us while we’re developing on our walk with Him. Weakness in the areas where we feel we should be strong isn’t cause for alarm, because Jesus strengthens us in those areas when we trust in Him. His grace is sufficient for us; His strength is made perfect in weakness.

God doesn’t need our self-efforts to save us. He did everything that needed to be done for our salvation on the cross, without our help. This is good news because when our efforts fall short, we’re still saved by our faith in His grace.

The world thinks of sin in terms of actions, but we can also sin when our thinking doesn’t line up with God’s Word. Worry, fear, anxiety, and every other negative emotion that the world tolerates are sins. However, our worries and fears aren’t strong enough to short-circuit Jesus’ power to save. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.

We’ve been freed from guilty feelings because we think we’re not moving as fast on our Christian walk as we should. We can’t possibly produce spiritual fruit on our own; only by being attached to the vine do we see results. Christ is our vine; when we’re in Him, He’s all we need to bear much fruit. Through Him, we experience success without the struggle.

Prayer:

God, we can’t save ourselves through our actions. Your Son did everything necessary for our salvation; nothing else other than faith in Him is needed. Thank You for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

2 Corinthians 12:9

Ephesians 2:8

Romans 5:20

John 15:4, 5