“For by grace you have been saved by faith. NOTHING YOU DID COULD EVER EARN this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving.” Ephesians 2:8-9 TPT. “Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?” Galatians 3:3.
Works occur when we forget that everything we have, was given to us for free, and everything we need has already been provided. There is a cultivated subtle state of mind that whispers to us: “You’d better watch out, God is getting very sick of your mistakes. You’d better try harder, or He will give up on you.” That kind of thinking is the beginning of toddling off into trying to please the Lord. That’s the moment we are presuming we know what He wants from us. All of that whispery stuff in our heads is untrue BTW, when the Lord looks at each one of us, He sees His beloved child and He’s a good GOOD Father.
However, if we want to live in the Light like Jesus did, then we need to expose our hearts, minds and emotions to the Light! Read the book … and ask for His help to show you what He wants you to do, and then start doing it. You can get clues along the way from other people as well as from the Holy Spirit. But if we are hurting people, and we don’t care — then somewhere or other we have missed the Holy Spirit. “I don’t care” means we are hardening our hearts. A hardened heart is more difficult to deal with. Meanwhile, we need to rely upon Him to help us to not provoke other people, on purpose, or by accident. The Holy Spirit knows more about relationships than all of mankind will ever forget!
There is no shortcut for any of this stuff, however, it is error to let guilt motivate us into the things of God. The things we do and say need to be born of the Spirit not our rational minds. Or even worse, the kind of guilt that says we are not good Christians if we do not do this or that, or such and such. Guilt must not motivate us into doing the things we know are right – doing those things for that reason will not bear God’s good fruit. Instead, if we have been motivated by guilt, then repent and ask the Lord what He wants us to do about it.
Throwing our hands in the air and staying the same is not the answer either. When we do that we are telling the Holy Spirit that we don’t need Him, and we don’t need His help. There is NO FAITH exercised when we stay the same! The point of this new life is that it is a faith life. This life we lead daily is meant to be a challenge because we are now relying upon Him to lead, guide and teach us His Ways, and sadly, we are very used to our own ways. Plus we’ve practiced making up reasons for why OUR way is the best way, while we were at it.
However, just because we prayed: “Dear Lord, please change me here, or there,” and nothing happened immediately … that is not a licence to assume it’s all good and we can walk away! We need to continually read the bible for revelation to help us to find out where we are acting in opposition to the way He does things and then we start taking faith steps. Sometimes the Lord gives me an answer I just didn’t get, or see, or even want to see! So I ask my hubby to pray and look for me. It humbles me – that’s all good … and hubby can see stuff I can’t. More good!
Always ask the Holy Spirit for His help. He is here for US. The bible reminds us if we ask for His help, the Father will not give us a stone – He will send the Holy Spirit to help us. Believe Him! Then, wait for further instructions. Using our faith to obey Him and seek His guidance, gives the Holy Spirit the right and the room to guide us.
Remember, double-minded people can’t get anything from the Lord because they are too busy going: ‘Will I, or won’t I? Is that what He wants or not?’ Repent, and put that double-minded stuff down immediately and wait on Him instead. When it comes to the things of God we are dealing with a Person – not a system. Waiting is part of God’s Ways. He doesn’t just go for any old time because … His timing is perfect.
But we must never wait to forgive people – that is a given and it is not a debatable matter. No matter how many times we need do it – practising forgiveness of others who treat us badly – even though it hurts – will not kill us. It will soften our hearts and make them tender toward the Lord and others. Then, when we are dealing with someone else’s humanity we can have compassion.
There is nothing we can ever to do earn His love, it’s all free and that love is already in our bank account. Releasing that love to others is where we pay the cost. 👋🏻
