Every good thing is a gift from God. We also do not deserve the good things we receive from Him. That is why these gifts are called graces of God. The Apostle Paul heartily agrees through the rhetorical question he asked in 1 Cor. 4:7, “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
The intellect, abilities, skills, and physique that uniquely make us the person that we are, are all thanks to God. It all comes from Him and it is all due to Him. There is no room for boasting because it’s not because of us that we have these things but it’s all because of grace pouring lavishly upon us. The highest evidence of grace is the salvation that God gives to wretched sinners through faith in Christ. Eph. 2:8-9 says, ” For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is through these verses that we see that salvation which is by grace is a gift from God. From the greatest gift of salvation to lesser gifts like food and clothing; everything is traced back in the fatherly loving hand of God.
Every precious second, every miraculous heartbeat, and every enabling power come from the One who looks after us because He is our Father and we are His children. Unfortunately, we abuse the grace of God. We waste our time instead of making the most of it for the glory of God and the good of others. We waste our heartbeats on trivialities instead of pouring our hearts into the kingdom of God. We use His enabling power for our selfish agendas and not for His glorious purposes.
Abusing the grace of God could manifest in laziness, sinfulness, and mediocrity. There are so many sinful deeds that we could try to enumerate when we abuse the grace of God. If we truly understand the grace of God that He is pouring lavishly into our lives then we would never abuse His grace. God’s never-ending and overflowing grace towards us in Christ should never be used as an excuse to sin but as a reason to serve Him more. As we meditate on the greatest grace of salvation to the least of common grace and every grace in between, may our hearts be eternally grateful to the One who has given all good things that we do not deserve. May it stir humble dependence in our hearts knowing that all things are “from him and through him and to him”. (Rom. 11:36) To God alone be the glory forever.
By grace alone 