Grace is not about my worth

Sometimes I shake my head in wonder that God picked me to be His child. After more than thirty-five years of knowing Christ, I still feel as if I’m the worst possible example of a Christian. Today’s verse takes me away from that notion, not by building up my estimation of myself, but by telling me why God saved me, in fact why He saves anyone.

The verse is Ephesians 3:6, but this verse is a phrase in a longer sentence, typical of the writings of Paul. Here is the entire sentence:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

I sometimes wonder what makes God choose, yet that is not the right question. The purpose or goal of His choosing is about grace, His unconditional love. It is grace that saves, grace that made me accepted into His family, and grace that keeps me there. He saved me so that His grace would be glorified and praised!

Today’s devotional reading from Ears from Harvested Sheaves is a blessing too. I’ve edited it a bit, first to make it personal, and second to bring the language of this older book a bit more up to date. It says:

If I am ever looking for something in me to make myself acceptable to God, I become sadly cast down and discouraged because I cannot find that holiness, or obedience, or any serenity of soul. I’m void of that spirituality and heavenly-mindedness which I believe to be acceptable in His sight. My temper, fretful and irritated mind, rebellious thoughts, cold heart, barrenness and alienation from godliness, my proneness to that pessimistic feeling that I am getting no better but worse, makes me think that God views me just as I view myself. This brings great darkness in my mind and bondage to my spirit. I have lost sight of my acceptance in Christ and dropped into those miserable dregs of self. Sometimes I feel as if I’m ready to quarrel with God because I am so void of all I should be, all that He could make me be, and even seem to get worse as I get older. Yet I know that the more I turn inward, and the more I keep looking at any scenes of wreck and ruin in my own heart, the further I move from the grace of the gospel. Looking at me makes me lose sight of the only ground of my acceptance with God. It is “in the Beloved” that I am accepted, not for any good words, or good works, good thoughts, good hearts, or good intentions of my own. This saving knowledge of my acceptance in Christ is not about anything in me, good or bad. He is the firm foundation for my faith and hope, and will keep me from sinking into the foolish despair of depending on myself.

A song begins to weave its way through my mind. The words are, “Oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.”