Embracing God’s Grace

Ephesians 2:8 — “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Several years ago, I realized I was keeping score. I was keeping a record of wrong that God wasn’t. Not for anyone else, but I was certainly doing this with my own sin.

I was not accepting His grace for me, just for everyone around me. I wanted to try to move past my mistakes, but I constantly attached shame to every sin. Over time, as God grew and matured me, I knew I needed to receive and accept His grace, mercy, and hope for me first.

It’s kind of like the airline’s emergency rule: put on your oxygen mask first and then help everyone else. In the same way, because I was a youth pastor, I needed to accept being a child of God before doing ministry.

I had to practice what I was teaching the students in my care. Even as an adult with adult responsibilities, I had to be His child first. As I got older and became a husband and father, my reliance on God’s grace had to go even deeper.

Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we never have to hold ourselves to some unattainable personal standard.

We confess and give it all to God, and He lifts that burden off us with His atonement and sacrifice. Then, we are not left with guilt and shame, but His righteousness and the reminder that Jesus loved us enough to see our sin, step into our lives, and offer His grace. It’s the divine exchange of our sin for His forgiveness.

We deny God and rob ourselves when we do not allow His full gift of forgiveness. Whether for the first time, or the first time in a long time, God wants you to be able to say, “I see grace … for me.”

— Micah Tyler

 

Lyrics:

I’ve seen shame
The kind that comes from mistakes
The kind that won’t go away
When I turned around
They were right there to remind me

I’ve seen regret
The kind that messes with your head
The failures and the can’t forgets
But standing here now
I’m thanking God it’s behind me

Cause I’ve seen nail scarred hands
Reach out and wipe it all away

Now I see grace
Hallelujah I stand amazed
I’m staring at an empty grave
And the stone that You rolled away
When I was a prodigal
You saw a son
When I left the 99
You saw the one
And just like that
All my past has been erased
When I look back
I see grace

I still hurt
Fall short of what You say I’m worth
And that devil says I don’t deserve
What You did on the cross
And he’s right cause I don’t
But You did it anyway

I see grace
Hallelujah I stand amazed
I’m staring at an empty grave
And the stone that You rolled away
When I was a prodigal
You saw a son
When I left the 99
You saw the one
And just like that all my past has been erased
When I look back
I see grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin
Thank God almighty
Gonna sing it again
Oh grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin

I see grace
Hallelujah I stand amazed
I’m staring at an empty grave
And the stone that You rolled away
I was a prodigal
You saw a son
When I left the 99
You saw the one
And just like that all my past has been erased
When I look back
I see grace, grace
God’s grace (I see grace)
Grace that is greater than all my sin
Thank God almighty
Gonna sing it again

Grace oh grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin