We can’t make ourselves more loveable to God by years of good behavior. And yet, because of grace, we seek to do what pleases Him.
We can’t earn even half an hour in heaven by acts of sympathy or kindness. And yet, because of grace, we spend unnumbered hours caring for the least of all His little ones.
Those shining moments when we sometimes rise to our potential don’t make us even one bit more beloved by God. His love for us cannot be amplified, expanded, or improved.
Grace cancels everything we think we’ve earned, and makes us utterly rely on everything God gives us. It is the end of all our goodness, and the place where faith begins.
Abandon hope in all you’ve done, but deeply trust what God has done.
And stay in grace.
—Bill Knott