Life the way God wants us to live it is an exciting, exhilarating adventure, but it can get messy sometimes. We try to do the right thing, live morally, treat people well, and keep our emotions in check. This all sounds great, but we’re spinning our wheels if we’re not depending on God. Engaging in a real relationship with Jesus, who is grace personified, lets us begin living life on a higher level.
A Higher Quality of Life
The purpose of grace is to produce in us a life that’s better than anything we could achieve on our own. Instead of just being good people, it transforms us into godly people. Grace changes our desires, our attitudes, and our motivations. We can dispense with checking off religious boxes and let Jesus work in us and through us.
We’ve all tried to do things in our own strength. We’ve tried to be joyful, thankful, peaceful, and generous, but without the Spirit of Grace, we fall short. This is why we need Him every day. “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20, NLT). Realistically, we don’t always feel like giving thanks, especially when things are hard, but Christ teaches us to be thankful even in the middle of the storm.
A Grace-Based Perspective
Paul had plenty to say about the grace life. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6, NLT). Most of us pray about some things, but not everything, and we definitely don’t always thank Him for all He’s done. That’s why we need grace, because it trains us to live differently.
Grace teaches us to live life with a supernatural mindset, not a worldly one. The world says to fret and be anxious, but God says the opposite. This isn’t something we can do through our own strength; we need the Holy Spirit to help us walk in that kind of peace. This made Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians a strong call to depend on God in every situation.
Joyful in All Circumstances
Joy is another integral part of the package God wants for us. He tells us, “Always be joyful” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, NLT). That’s a tall order, because we don’t always feel joyful; sometimes we’re tired, frustrated, or simply worn out. However, joy isn’t about how we feel, but about what we know. “…For the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). When we know God is with us, we can have joy even when our hearts ache.
We don’t have to pretend everything’s perfect, but simply to realize that even in the middle of trouble, God is working. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy” (James 1:2, NLT). This goes beyond the natural into the supernatural. It’s only possible through the intervention of the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Grace.
The Holy Ghost doesn’t just help us endure trials, but He also changes our desires and makes our old way of living distasteful. We’re to throw off our old sinful nature and let the Spirit renew our thoughts and attitudes. This is something only God can do in us, regardless of how hard we try.
Grace on All Levels
Self-dependance on ourselves gets us nowhere. Religion teaches self-effort, but grace teaches trust in God. Self-effort was required under the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments, but no real change for the better ever came from all that hard work. God wants a better life for us. “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6, NKJV).
Grace affects not just our living, but also our giving. Paul praised the Corinthians for their generosity despite their extreme poverty. Despite their financial state and the trials afflicting them, they were filled with joy and gave generously, begging for the opportunity to make an offering to God. That kind of giving doesn’t come from mere human ability.
Raising the Bar, With Love
A proper understanding of God’s favor and love reveals that it doesn’t lower the standard, but raises it. It doesn’t give us permission to live carelessly, but empowers us to live righteously. It fills us with God’s fullness. “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:19, NLT).
In today’s current environment that exalts self-effort, this still applies. We can stop trying to live life without God. We’re free from the exhausting expectation to fix ourselves, change ourselves, and carry ourselves for others’ approval.
We were created to depend on God. The birds, the seasons, the earth itself, and everything else in creation depends on Him. Why should we be any different?
God is Ready to Intervene
When we’ve come to the end of our rope and nothing we’ve been doing helps, we must humble ourselves and say, “God, I need You.” This is wisdom, not weakness. We begin seeing real transformation when we do this. Real change happens not because we’re trying harder, but because we’re trusting deeper.
God wants to come down to a personal level and give us an encouraging message. He’s giving us permission to stop pretending we’ve got it all together, stop acting like we don’t need help, and stop giving in to the pressure to be perfect. He doesn’t expect perfection, just dependence. God is asking to walk with us, talk with us, and guide us every step of the way.
Elevated and Taught by Grace
Grace doesn’t mean that we can be selfish and run wild. It’s not a license to sin, but the power to overcome it; it doesn’t make us lazy, but alive; it doesn’t excuse bad behavior, but transforms it. Most importantly, it teaches us to live from love. “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3, NLT).
God offers us life, elevated. All we need to do is to accept HisH offer. Walking with Jesus is guaranteed to change everything.
