Chosen by God!
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23 NKJV)
To develop godly character, we must first experience the righteousness received by faith, and then sincerely love and worship God and live in His will. It can be easy to develop a view that salvation is based on good works and self-righteousness because of the world we live in which rewards works, ambition, self-achievement, and so much more. The harder we work the more we can achieve, or so we are led to believe. Then we are told if you’re good you’ll get this or that. All of this can cause us to have a skewed view of how the Kingdom of God works.
Sadly, we’re not comfortable receiving gifts and usually want to give something in return, as it makes us feel better about ourselves. Yet, from God’s perspective He has given us a gift that everyone is entitled to regardless to how we act. When we choose to receive the gift of salvation He then comes to live in us and makes us more and more like Him.
This gift may feel uncomfortable because we know we didn’t earn it, yet God says it’s ours. In our discomfort we try to “earn” it by acting a certain way. There are even religions that tell us our good actions make us worthy, but that is not how God works. Nothing we do can make us worthy until we accept the gift of life purchased through the blood of Jesus. It’s this gift that causes God to see us as we truly are, His children. There is nothing we can do to earn it, we just have to accept it and then seek an intimate relationship with Him to grow and become more like Him.
"But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7 NKJV)
Be Encouraged! ❤
Leisa Wilkins Ministries
"Encouraging and Empowering you to become who God created you to be, God's Masterpiece, a Divine Original!"
Pastor | Author | Bible Teacher | Speaker | Encourager
www.leisawilkins.com