His Grace is Enough

If you know me, you know I'm not perfect. If you know you, you know you're not either. It is in our very nature to be imperfect, to make mistakes. But this is no excuse for us to succumb to that fleshly nature. Is there a continual thorn in our side that we have been trying to rid ourselves of? If that is the only thing separating us from having a great relationship with God, we need to get to work. We can't be comfortable. We were called to be uncomfortable. And if you're a believer in the midst of this world, you should know that feeling firsthand. If you haven't felt that, maybe you've been hiding. If this is true, it is time to get out in the open and let people know Who you represent, what you believe, and where you stand. God didn't give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of boldness. Use it!

Now if there has been a continual thorn/temptation that has been causing you to stumble, recognize it and act accordingly. If you believe in Christ, there is no reason to continue in the life of sin; He died for that. When you accepted Him as Savior, you crucified your old self in order to follow Him (please realize this is just as much a struggle for me as I know it is for you). This has been more directed to those believers who may have wavered off the path that God has called them to. But what about those of us who know what we want but still struggle with it?

Well, it's frustrating. But we must persist and cannot remain comfortable in our faith. Focus on the prize to which Christ has called you Heavenward, realize that you are not good enough but He is always good to you, and love as He loved you. Don't guilt yourself when you've made a mistake but use that frustration you feel as a weapon to combat your sinful desires. When you pray about it, remember that Jesus asked the Lord, if it be in His will, to take away His cup of suffering three times. But God said nothing. Remember that Paul asked the Lord to take away the thorn in his side three times but God said no. Instead He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." We are called to rejoice in our weakness, our suffering, and imperfections. God's power is perfected in us through our weaknesses because it when we are weak that we trust in Him completely. That is when He makes us strong. Don't put yourself down because, in this life, things will inevitably get rough. But it's so important to remember that His grace is enough.

2 Timothy 1:7⁷for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Galatians 2:20²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Philippians 3:12-14¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:5-10 ⁵ I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. ⁶ Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, ⁷ or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.