God is who saves us, each and every day. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves, apart from trusting in Him. Accepting this fact can humble us. Realizing that God does everything for us helps us to understand that there is not one thing this world can offer us that is better than what He offers. When we are able to grasp that we did not come to this world to find our own way, but that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,” we are able to stop forcing our way through life. We are all constantly searching for our purpose and confused by what our next move should be. So much of our time is consumed with seeking out what we are to do with our lives, when all the while the design has been waiting for us. We must make it our priority to lean into His grace each day, even each moment. By accepting His grace, that is freely given, we will be set on the path of His good works as He prepared for us in advance.
In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:7-10 NIV
We will never have the strength on our own to save ourselves. Trying to do life without God is an uphill battle. We must follow Christ’s lead by surrendering our life, which was never ours to begin with. He showed us how powerful love should be. It is in love that our purpose is derived. “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV) It was only through His overwhelming love for us that He devised a plan to save us from ourselves. This is where His good works are. This is the work we must thrust ourselves into everyday. Becoming humbled, practicing patience, and learning tolerance gives way to Christ like love. This is our chief mission in life, to love with all that we are. We can only do this with God’s help. He is the one that can stir in our spirits the desire to love without being compelled. His love is a love that has no strings attached, there are no expectations. This is the love we must seek to have for ourselves from Him and in turn give to everyone we encounter, no matter what.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8 NIV
A Story of Loving Beyond Reason:
My mom and dad got divorced when I was very young. My dad started a new family and so did my mom. I lived with my mom a majority of the time. I only saw my dad in the summer. Needless to say my relationship with my dad has always been strained.
I spent many years resenting him in my life, but I still loved him. I wanted him to show me love bigger and better than he did. I could never understand why he would put everyone else in his life before me. This drove incredible difficulty within myself to feel as though I deserved love.
As I have grown in my relationship with God, He has shown me how to better love myself. I have grown out of resentment of my dad. We still do not really have any relationship, but I am able to have love for him without persistent pain. It makes no sense, but God is who I look to give me the strength to love my dad even when I do not want to.
- Anonymous
Strengthen the Christian Planner Family by sharing your experiences. We'd love to hear a story about God's work in your life. Use the form linked below to submit your story.
Considerations for your planner:
- Write down what you believe your purpose to be. Are you accepting grace from God each day to lead you in your purpose?
- Are you leading with love in what you do, be it for work or just your day to day life happenings? Write down 3 ways you can lead with love better today than yesterday. These can be for yourself or others.
