ROOTED IN LOVE â—½ HOME
If there’s one thing I think is pointless, it’s dusting. Or perhaps pointless isn’t the right word, but rather futile. Maybe it’s worse because I live on a ranch, where there are dirt roads and dust constantly blowing around, but it just seems like a waste of time to dust my house. I can spend an entire afternoon wiping up every speck of dust, and then the next day it almost looks like it did before. Talk about frustrating! It makes me wonder why I even bothered in the first place, especially because it gets me sneezing and sniffling every single time.
Sometimes I feel like this about myself, too. There are certain aspects of my character I try to work on and improve, and I constantly pray to look more like Jesus. I put in time and effort into dying to the flesh and walking in the Spirit, and sometimes it feels like I’m doing a good job. But then a day comes where I feel all dusty and dirty again. It seems like all the work I’ve done – all the pruning the Lord has done in me – goes out the window and I’m the old me again. The one who barks at her husband and kids, the one who worries constantly instead of trusting, the one who judges people and also worries what people think. I wonder why I even bothered when I’m still just a sinful, prideful, anxious person who doesn’t deserve grace at all.
But that’s just the thing. None of us deserves grace. Ever. It doesn’t matter how much work we put into being “good.” It doesn’t matter how much money we give or how many hours we serve at church. It doesn’t matter how many Bible verses we can recite or how much fruit of the Spirit we exhibit. No matter what, we will always fall short. We will never be clean enough or pure enough or good enough, and that can be discouraging if we look at it the wrong way. It can feel daunting and impossible to be a good person. It can seem futile to even try to emulate Christ.
If, however, we have a Christ-centered perspective instead of a me-centered one, we will realize that His grace is free for the taking. It doesn’t matter that we’re not good enough. It doesn’t matter that we mess up or fall back or stumble. It’s not about earning His love. It’s about accepting the free gift of grace. A gift that He offers to everyone – including anxious, stubborn, irritable, dusty old me. And including you, too.
Yes, it’s important for us to work toward being more Christ-like, but we also need to have grace for ourselves. If Jesus can give us grace, then we should give ourselves a little bit, too. It’s okay to have tough days. It’s okay to make mistakes. The beautiful part of being a child of God is not attaining perfection; it’s knowing that His power is made perfect in our weakness. It’s through His strength that we grow and become courageous women of faith. It’s by His power that we are able to shine a light into this world. It’s not about what we can do, but what He can do through us.
If you start to feel discouraged or down on yourself, look up and remember whose you are. You belong to the God of the Universe, and He’s not afraid of a little dust. His mercies are new every morning, dusting you off when you need it and making you shine again. There’s nothing hopeless or futile about you, sister. You are a daughter of the King.