Have you personally experienced God’s grace … the joy and relief of being forgiven, grateful that you are yet loved and accepted?
The following personal story, recently shared by one of my favorite Christian speakers, does a great job of helping us to understand the amazing grace God gives us. Read on!
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Abundant, Amazing Grace
This speaker shared that early in her marriage she did something that filled her with shame. So much so, that she felt she had to hide it from her husband. So daily, for seven months, she silently carried the heavy weight of her action. She wanted to confess her sin to him, but found herself continuing to stall because she feared his reaction.
What if confessing changed how he viewed her? What if he chose to stop loving her … to walk away?
When she finally did tell him, as tears plunged down her face, his response was to simply wrap his arms around her and hold her close for a long moment. Then she heard him utter the words she had been dreading: “I need to leave the house for a while.”
In the hours he was gone she anxiously paced, a part of her certain that he wouldn’t return. But her heart leapt when he strode back into their home, his arms overflowing with delicate yellow tulips — her favorite flower.
This godly man hadn’t left to punish her, but to shop at as many flower stores as necessary for him to gather the gorgeous display. The symbolism of his grand and generous gesture: he wanted her to grasp, beyond a shadow of her doubt, that he was offering her God-sized grace.
Here in Texas we love to say, “Go big or go home.” In effect, her husband’s big gesture said, “I forgive you, love you, and accept you — just as God offers me His amazing grace when I blow it.”
[bctt tweet=”Once we’ve tasted the sweetness of God’s grace, we carry it within us to likewise offer it.” username=”@josh_mcdowell”]
When you and I humbly confess our sin to God, He doesn’t make us wallow and grovel and do a bunch of good deeds to tip the scale of worth back in our favor. Rather, He offers us instant grace, from His bottomless well of love.
God doesn’t offer us a single bloom, friends, but a lush bouquet, to make sure we “get” that He’s completely removed the stain of our offense and sees it no more. We are clean. Forgiven. Understood. Accepted.
The Bible declares that God sees us as sanctified, justified, and redeemed. Says Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” No ifs, ands, or buts. No loopholes. Jesus sealed this deal for us on the cross.
We may have to walk out consequences because of our sin, but every step is covered by His amazing grace, freeing us from soul-crippling shame and blame. Let us rejoice in that!
Are you burdened by sin you’re trying to hide from God? (Spoiler alert: He already knows.) God isn’t focused on your perfection, but your progress. Run to Him! He wants to restore you into relationship with Him via His unceasing grace!
NEXT STEPS:
> Can we pray for you? It would be our honor. Click here.
> Do you want to have a relationship with Jesus? Start here.
> Do you have shame you can’t shake, despite God’s grace? Head over to our Resolution Movement.
