Journey in Grace

A few days ago, my bride and I were talking about how just a few years ago, we never gave the gospel a second thought. It was something we no longer needed because we were already saved. Living our lives with a daily sensitivity to the gospel was something we didn’t do and didn’t even understand. We didn’t know we weren’t doing it and we didn’t even recognize a need to keep the gospel front and center. We were blind to that. But then the Holy Spirit began a work in us that opened our eyes and hearts to the ongoing need to be gospel centered.

I couldn’t imagine going back to that old way of thinking because looking back, I see how it zapped me of my joy and made me critical of myself and others. My theology was at the center of my life and because of that, there was always pressure to look the way people thought I should look and to say things the way people thought I should say them. Pride and false humility ruled the day. When I was doing things right, I became proud; when I wasn’t performing up to the standard set for me, I was driven by guilt. But the gospel has stripped those masks away and made me free to be me, free to fail, and free to be real, because I am loved by God unconditionally in Jesus. The gospel alone gives me the power I need to live.

Life’s hard enough to live remembering the gospel. I couldn’t imagine living life that way again, with no gospel clarity or thought of it’s impact and power in the present. That seems so foreign to me now. Thank you Jesus!

-Mike

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