To Encourage You

Titus 3:3-7 “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

One of the attributes of God for which I am most grateful is His incredible mercy.  You see, many years ago I had the idea that because I had once prayed “the sinner’s prayer” I was on my way to heaven. Some people (perhaps many) talk about this one act of prayer as the door into the kingdom of God. They think that this one act gives them spiritual “fire insurance,” and they are saved from the torments of hell.  They’ve punched their ticket and can now go on their merry way.  How they actually live matters very little (or so the thinking goes) – for God will save them in the end for they “prayed the prayer.” 

Sadly, that reflected my attitude in my early life.  But then, in graduate school, I hit some difficulties that upset the apple cart, so to speak, in my life. If you had asked me if I was a Christian at that time, I would have said that I was, but if you had compared my life with that of an unbeliever, you would have seen no difference.  All things had not “become new,” which is the result of true faith as we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17.  I had a “form of godliness,” at least in my own mind, but I denied it’s power (2 Corinthians 3:5) in the way I lived.  I remember being overwhelmed with school. I was having trouble academically. I didn’t think I had what it took to continue, and I thought very seriously about dropping out. I was deeply depressed.  But then, one night, as I was rolling these thoughts over and over in my mind in my bedroom, I remember being made aware very acutely of the source of my trouble.  As God graciously intervened at that moment and spoke very clearly to my heart, I became aware like I never had before of what true Christianity was.  I suddenly had my eyes opened to the truth that God wanted all of me, or none of me.  I became aware that either God is Lord of all in my life, or He wasn’t my Lord at all.  It was a sobering and terrifying moment, for I knew how I was living, I could feel the pull of all the sin on my life as I wrestled with God, and although I told the Lord at that moment that I wanted to follow Him, I didn’t see how I ever could, for I knew I did not have the strength. 

I recall falling asleep exhausted from that spiritual and mental wrestling match, concluding that I was damned.  But then the next morning when I awoke, I recall the incredible peace that filled my soul.  My first thought was “if this is how it feels to be damned, what a strange thing.” But then my next thought was this: “Could God actually be having mercy on me? As evil as I had been, was He actually forgiving me?”  I remember being awed by how incredible this would be. I remember being overwhelmed by the patience and mercy of such a God Who would forgive even me!  And with that thought I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if God was showing mercy to me, there was no way I was going to return to the life I had been living.  It was at that moment that I did a complete about face, spiritually speaking, and began walking towards God rather than away from Him. It’s what the Bible calls “repentance” although I may not have thought of that particular word at the time.  And it was all because of God’s mercy, which is the very thing Paul told Titus in the verses above. 

I am so aware that I am not a Christian because I prayed a prayer or because I’m such a good person. No, I am a Christian because of God’s great mercy and nothing else. I praise Him for His incredible grace. I am so grateful for what He has done.  It is that gratitude that motivates my life.  And although I’m very aware of how very far I have to go to be like Jesus, that’s my desire, that’s my direction, and it’s why I can say, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). It’s all because of His awesome, incredible, overwhelming mercy that has been poured out on me in spite of my sin.

Praise His wonderful name!