Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, September 2, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
We westerners are raised in a reward/punishment paradigm. As kids, when we were “good” we got rewarded. When we were “bad” we got in trouble. So we learned to follow the rules to earn good stuff and avoid bad stuff. As we mature into adults, sure, we gain maturity and the ability to recognize the importance of doing right for its own sake. But I wonder how many of us ever overcome the hardwiring of our childhoods. I’m nearly fifty and when someone calls me on a mistake, it still kicks up shame.
So it’s not hard to understand why so many of us have a hard time truly grasping the depth and breadth of God’s grace. We’re so programmed to believe we need to earn anything good in our lives, we’re a little flabbergasted (and maybe even suspicious) when God wants to give us something so profound as grace without one iota of effort on our parts.
Accept it. Recognize the unfathomable love God lavishes on us whether or not we are “being good.”
Do I have a hard time believing I do not need to earn God’s grace?