Holy Love, Holy Grace

The other day a lady from my childhood commented on my Facebook post, and she said, 

“Oh, Jenny, I’m so proud of you. I remember you in children’s church; you were such a precious little girl.” 

That comment made me wish I could’ve been her watching my child-self while I worshiped and interacted with Jesus.  Knowing what I know now, I would’ve asked…..

“Do you know how much Jesus loves you? ‘Cause He does!” 

As a little girl, I truly loved Jesus and wanted everyone to know Him.  I held little “Jesus Crusades” in elementary school during recess.  But my burden was that I didn’t understand that when I made mistakes, Jesus still loved me.  I thought I needed to be perfect to be loved.  I had a performance-driven mentality.  I never wanted to disappoint Him.  I just wanted Him to love me and be proud of me.

I obviously made mistakes, and I felt bad about it, but I lived in shame and guilt all the time. I would repent for my sins, but I never felt freedom from guilt or shame.  I still saw myself as a sinner.  I had a great fear of punishment. 

The word of God says, 

Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.  1 John 4:8 NLT

Because I didn’t understand His grace or His love, I began to lose hope and the Joy of my Salvation…By the age of 16, I gave up on Christianity, which meant I gave up on the ONE who truly loved me. While there was a BIG buildup of reasons why the biggest reason was my lack of understanding of the grace and love of Jesus!  I knew God hated sin, and since I  was still sinning, somehow I interpreted that as “He hated me.” 

Those around me didn’t understand grace, and they had their own interpretation of love.  Even though we are ALL saved by grace through faith, we don’t fully understand grace. It’s mind-blowing and undeserved.  This makes it hard to explain.   Grace enables us to live a victorious and abundant life. This critical message of grace and love is the biggest game-changer a believer can receive.

I now have three grown men I’ve raised. I struggled with fear off and on raising them. I tried to explain grace through faith, but I feel that’s something that we learn from Him or through our own experience supernaturally.

Who can truly explain grace?  

Those who’ve lived under the law know the struggle. As human beings, we struggle to understand the things of God, and it’s only by His grace through the Spirit that we learn the things of Him. As far as grace goes, until you blow it or someone else you love blows it, you may not have a good picture of what grace looks like.  God will reveal it to you when you need it. 

Have you ever had to extend grace to someone?  It’s easier to have grace for someone when you feel like they deserve it, but when they don’t deserve it, that’s a whole other thing.  

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

God’s grace is unmerited: not adequately earned or deserved 

Grace: grace, in Christian theology, is the spontaneous, unmerited gift of the divine favor in the salvation of sinners and the divine influence operating in individuals for their regeneration and sanctification. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

“God’s favor toward the unworthy.”  

We don’t have to be worthy to receive it.  He showers it on the one who reaches out for it.  Grace is the enabling source given to us to be who He transforms us to be and do all that He calls us to do.  It’s He that gets the glory, all the glory.  A person surrendered to a most loving and gracious Father will be loved, and grace will fall like rain! 

If I would have met someone who was deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, they could have helped me begin to scratch the surface of understanding what His Love paid for and what grace meant.  

My words to my child-self would have been chosen carefully. They would have been seasoned well with grace and love, heavy on His faithfulness and His goodness.  I would’ve stressed the importance of trusting Him to complete the work that He began in me and with me.  I would have emphasized that He IS Holy Love and Grace. When He disciplines those He loves, He does it with Holy Love, which will draw you to repentance, and His grace is enough.  We know He’s good, and His mercy endures forever.  Instead of looking at discipline as punishment, look at discipline coming from the One who loves us and draws us through His loving kindness.  We should run to judgment. Judgment from THE ONE WHO knows all, sees all, and loves ALL. He wants the best for us, and He will constantly work for us.  He is so good!

Oh, get wrapped in His perfect love!

Jen Meyers

Sanctioned Love