Why Is It So Hard To Accept God’s Grace For Myself?

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. — John 1:16 (NIV)

I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. An honest mistake, made in front of several people, left me grasping for words. I meant to encourage my new acquaintance, but my poor word choice caused her to misunderstand my intentions. After I restated my point, her warm handshake reassured me no lasting harm had been done. Still…

For hours I beat myself up. I know better. How could I make such a mistake? What must the other people in the group think of me? How could I let God down like this? And my thoughts continued to spiral out of control. 

If a friend had relayed this story to me, I would have instantly reminded her to extend herself grace. Yet I find it so hard to do the same for myself. I know God holds me to high standards. But I tend to hold myself to a higher one ~ one without grace. 

At the root of grace is the sacrifice of Jesus. In fact, the word grace can be seen as an acronym:

Great
Riches
At
Christ’s
Expense

Knowing how much it cost God to give us grace, I feel uncomfortable taking too much of it. So I try not to need too much. Faulty human thinking at its best. The whole reason Jesus came and brought us grace is because we can’t live righteously on our own. Not wanting to use too much grace would be like not wanting to use too much oxygen. Grace, like oxygen, is essential for life, and we have an abundant supply of it. 

The Apostle John reminds us of this truth:

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. (John 1:16 NIV) 

To better understand this verse, let’s look at it in context. To help the flow of ideas, I omitted verse 15 which is a parenthetical aside:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14, 16-17 NIV)

Jesus is full of grace, and from His fullness we receive grace. The phrase ~ in place of grace already given ~ can also be translated as grace on top of grace. God continues to lavish grace on us as we need it. No matter how much grace we need, God’s supply is always greater. 

Some may point out the danger of abusing grace by not taking sin seriously. While that can happen, this isn’t usually my struggle. My tendency is to not tap into it enough. A life without grace is miserable ~ and not what Jesus wants for us.

Once I accepted God’s grace over my blunder, I could finally break free of my negativity. In its place, joy and peace flooded my soul. 

Lord Jesus, Thank you for coming and bringing us your grace and truth. Help us remember Your grace is always enough for whatever we need. May we never be afraid to ask for your grace in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.