And know no shame.
I’ve been convicted of an area of sin in my life over the past couple of months and it’s been the most eye-opening (and humbling) experience for me to see how very little I wanted to deal with it when I confronted myself about it. It’s not one of those things that should be ignored or glossed over. It’s a character issue, connected to a lot of heart issues.
Ignoring it has proven to be the wrong tactic. All that did was give it time to grow roots, some of which are capable of choking the very life out of the good things in my life. I don’t want to be that girl.
I woke up this morning with God’s grace on my mind, mainly because I needed it. I never want to treat it as “cheap grace.” I never want to take it for granted. I never want to take advantage of it.
I’ve just never really “got” it, to be honest. Grace has felt a little like a concept I should have gotten back in Sunday School, not some abstract idea that I’m still unsure of at 24. I can’t define grace and that bothers the intellectual side of me.
All I know is that I want to be the girl who can look her God in the eyes and know no shame.
Maybe that’s the definition I’ve been looking for this whole time.
Posted: July 27th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Lindsey
Time: July 27, 2009, 8:40 pm
Oh, sweet friend. Are you sure we weren’t cut from the same cloth?
Grace is something that I’ve struggled for so long. It is the concept that I so wish I had learned at an early age.
It’s so easy for me to extend grace to others, but to give it to myself is one of the hardest things.
Praying for you. Praying for me.
Comment from kaitlyn
Time: July 27, 2009, 10:00 pm
You always reach to the places that cut me the deepest.
I struggle with this on a daily basis. I know my most recurrent sins, yet despite the struggle I put into changing they still come back over and over again.
Thank God for grace, but thank you for the challenge in the thought of “cheap grace”.
Our sins are washed clean in the blood of Jesus, yet I still do not feel I could look at God without shame.
You have greatly encouraged me, but you have also challenged me. Thank you.
You are in my prayers.
Comment from clay
Time: July 27, 2009, 10:57 pm
know no shame because there’s *know* place like home.
Comment from Amanda
Time: July 28, 2009, 3:25 am
I know what you mean AB. For me, the definition of God’s Grace is this:
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
Now think on that for a while… it’s humbling.
Comment from Amber
Time: July 28, 2009, 10:12 am
Wow, Amanda stole my exact words!! God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense is how I remember Grace. When I come across that word in scripture, I substitute “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense”. So for example, “His GRACE is sufficient” reminds me that HIS RICHES through Christ’s Expense are sufficient. And who am I kidding, they are MORE than sufficient, right? Sometimes it’s harder to lift your head above the shame and be forgiving to yourself. I always feel like I need to earn it, or at least live in such a way that God puts a gold star by my name or something. I OFTEN struggle with grace.
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Comment from Rachel
Time: July 27, 2009, 12:59 pm
Amen, AB. I think you nailed the definition.
And how lucky are we that HE provides the way for us to look him in the eyes with no shame? Because if we tried to clean ourselves up and make ourselves presentable by our own efforts, it would just result in one big hot mess.
This post made me want to get on my knees. Thank you.