Daily Nuggets of Grace Part 3 Innocent!Sample

What’s Wrong with Motivating Ourselves Through Guilt?

Have you ever seen believers constantly worried, motivated by guilt, and never satisfied with themselves? They fear hurting themselves, others, and the beloved Father again. Their shoulders sag. They rehearse their mistakes, hoping to use that as an incentive to avoid veering off again. With a million promises to themselves, they trudge through the day, beating themselves with guilt as an extra reminder to stay on track.

Is this you, always promising yourself, "Never again," and dealing yourself a huge dose of self-condemnation? Maybe you’ve become so tired of the endless feelings of guilt that you gave up trying and went back to your old ways, leaving behind intimacy with your Daddy.

If so, there is grace for you!

Consider this example: saving up your money to purchase a precious item, buying it at the highest price, and then returning to the store to pay even more. It does not make sense! Yet, that is what it is like if we keep trying to add to what Christ did on the cross. It is both futile and proud to think we can. It rejects His sacrificial gift as all-encompassing.

Jesus announced, "It is finished" on the cross. Nothing more is needed. We show our lack of faith by questioning, "Is that truly enough?"

How do we live as Christians, then? Colossians 2:6-7 says, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." How did you receive Christ? God's Word is clear that it is by grace through faith alone. How, then, do you walk in Christ? In the same way: by grace through faith! As we trust Him, He empowers us to live out who we are: beloved children of God!

There is nothing more we need to add. There is nothing more we can add. We benefit completely through His grace.

Reflect and Respond

God genuinely cares what motivates us. Deeds performed to earn the acceptance Christ already bought for us will someday burn. Since Christ's death sufficiently paid for what we owed, guilt is a counterfeit motivator!

Motivating ourselves out of fear of falling again is also a counterfeit because His perfect love chases away fear. Take a moment to recognize how these counterfeit motivators show up in your life.

Pray

God, I choose to live by grace through faith. I refuse to motivate myself through guilt any longer. I reject the fear of being rejected by You or anyone else. Thank You; You are for me, not against me.