November 5, 2007
My Old Self
I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. . . Galatians 2:21a
Kierra looked across the room at her hero.
“When I see you, I know I can make it,” she said. “You are the only person that I know that has beat drugs. I hope I can one day be like you.”
*Kierra worries a lot about her old self. The person who used to shoot meth, and who lost all of the people she loved because of drugs. Who lost her health. Who lost her freedom.
Fresh out of prison and rehab, she’s found something powerful: God loves her. He died for her. He can change her heart, transform her mind, put her on a different path than the one that she hates so much.
Sometimes it’s easy to look at the verses in Galatians 2, where Paul reminds Christians to treat the grace of God as a gift, and to think about the Kierra’s that we know.
But guess what? Paul isn’t talking about her near as much as He is you and me. He’s talking about old self.
Really?
Yep. Kierra is just now figuring out grace, but she understands it because she’s lived a life where people have judged her based on her mistakes and choices. She’s judged herself. Discovering that God loves her was like pouring buckets of grace in her life. She GETS grace.
But do we?
Paul is talking to a church that heard the good news about the Cross. But these people listened to it, embraced it, but are now listening to people who are trying to make them follow rules instead of Jesus.
Suddenly faith is complicated all over again.
The focus isn’t on Christ; it’s on people and their shortcomings, or how good they are doing, or how strong or weak they are.
It’s not that rules are bad, but when we focus on the rules instead of a relationship with Christ, sometimes we become:
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legalistic (shame on you)
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self-condemning (shame on me)
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self-righteous (look at me)
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secretive (don’t look at me; you won’t like what you see)
You find grace when you realize it is God in you that helps you live, and love the way that God desires. So you nurture that by filling it with Him–hanging out with Him, searching out scripture (like today’s reading in Galatians 2), and being very, very real with Him always.
His grace is big enough to help you grow, to be there in the good and bad times, and worship God with your life because it’s all about Him, and not us.
Making It Real: Why don’t you take a few minutes and thank Him for the grace He has given you today. Check out Galatians 2. If you have questions, post a comment and we’ll talk. Okay?
Real Prayer
Thank you God, for amazing grace. Thank you that I don’t have to parade my good deeds in front of you to earn your love. Thank you that everything that I do, that I am, that I will be comes out of following you, accepting your grace, and growing in faith and relationship by knowing you intimately.
In your amazing name, Amen
