I Corinthians 15:10 (NKJV)
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
Did you catch that? I was reading one morning and those four words caught my attention; “was not in vain”. I have been thinking about it off and on ever since.
I think about what my life has included up to now. The heartache, rejection, medical conditions; all the bad things that have played a role in who I am. Then I think about who I am today. Christ has made ALL the difference in my life. I am not filled with bitterness, hatred, or self-pity. I am His child and I am grateful, blessed, and eager to be transformed more and more into who He wants me to be. I am who and what I am because of the mercy and grace of God.
That is the starting point; God’s grace. Then I read the part about it not being in vain. The NIV® version says “not without effect”. For God’s grace to have no effect in my life would mean I would put no effort into it. No effort equals no effect. I would be callous to the prodding of the Holy Spirit when He convicts me of wrong. I would be insensitive to His leading when I need to change an attitude or action. For it to have no effect I would have to basically be unreceptive and unresponsive to Him and His word. I would make it have no effect and it wouldn’t be because His Grace isn’t good enough or strong enough. It would be because of my lack of responsiveness to Him.
God’s grace makes us who we are as we take that grace and run with it. Through the power and inner working of the Holy Spirit, God’s grace is active and effective in our lives. Because it is effective in our lives, we work and hope that it will also become effective in the lives of others.
I encourage you to keep at it. Keep seeking God. Keep allowing Him to change you into who He wants you to be. Stay obedient to His word. Follow where He leads. Work at what He calls you to work at and do. Then, when we come to the end of our days, may we all look back and be able to say with Paul, that we are who we are because of God’s grace and God’s grace was not in vain in our lives.
Blessings.