Living a Happy Life: A 7-Day Devotional for Parents About Living From Acceptance—Not for AcceptanceSample

Day Three: A Miserable Way to Live

Lots of people receive Christ’s forgiveness and then think they have to keep His forgiveness by being good and doing good things. People embrace the free gift of everlasting life and then think it is up to them to hold on to it by proving themselves worthy.

There is a whole book in the Bible about our temptation to think this way. The book of Galatians was the apostle Paul’s letter to a group of people he loved. He wrote to remind them that God’s grace is how they became Christians in the first place, and they still need God’s grace. For them to start living to “put spiritual stickers on a chart” would be horrible! It would be miserable and exhausting because they would not be enjoying the grace and freedom they received. 

If we seek God’s approval in our own works, our joy is never full. We are burdened down, always carrying the weight of our struggles.  

If we seek God’s approval in our own works, our work is never finished. Trying to earn God’s love is exhausting because there is always something else to do. 

Thankfully, God’s grace is received, not achieved. The work is complete because the work of Jesus on the cross is complete. As He died, Jesus yelled out, “It is finished.” Don’t return to the slavery of trying to earn God’s love.