The Daily Grace - All We Need to Know

In a Fernando Ortega rendition of "Just As I Am", Billy Graham's voice can be heard faintly in the background. Dr. Graham is reminiscing about an illness during which he believed he was dying. As he mused on his past, he realized what a great sinner he was and how much he continues to need God's daily forgiveness. Billy Graham was put to an end to the notion that apart from God we're okay. We can feel good about ourselves, but that confidence must come from the knowledge that we're greatly loved children of God (John 3:16), not that we're very good children (Rom. 7:18).

The first step in becoming a truly "good" person as a follower of Christ is to stop pretending that we're good on our own and to ask God to make us as good as we can be. We will fail many times, but He will keep growing us and changing us. God is faithful and - in His time and in His way - He'll do it. 

In his final years, the writer of "Amazing Grace", John Newton, suffered from dementia and lamented the loss of his memory. Yet he confined, "I do remember two things: I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Savior". When it comes to faith, those are the only things anyone needs to know. God's grace accepted is God's peace experienced.