April 19, 2023 - Galatians 5:4-5

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.” Galatians 5:4-5 NLT

Lord, we thank you so much for paying the price for our sin. Your blood was shed, and you died so that we could be set free from the law. What an amazing gift. We can never accomplish successfully living under the law. We will make mistakes. We will fall into temptation and sin. No matter how much we want to live a holy life and turn from sin, we fall short. You knew this and made a way for us to be restored to you even though we sin. We praise you for your grace. We praise you that your blood covers and forgives our sins. We praise you that your grace allows us to freely walk in your love even as sinners. It washes away our mistakes and blemishes. It is a remarkable gift and we can never thank you enough for it.

Lord, show us if there are places in our lives where we are still trying to earn your love by how we live. It is a pointless effort; we will never be good enough to earn your love. Thank you for freely giving it to us, and it doesn’t need to be earned. We want to live a righteous life not to earn your love, but because we love and want to honor you. When we fail in our efforts to live righteously, we want to immediately come to you and ask for your grace to cover our mistakes. Lord, as grateful as we are for your grace, we never want to abuse your grace. Help us to never use the fact that you will forgive us as an excuse to give into our selfish desires and walk in sin. Teach us how to live with your Spirit guiding our every step. Come and increase our faith and help us walk in your righteous ways. Let us live our lives to bring you glory in all we do.

In Jesus name, amen.