encouragement for when we’re far from blameless

I was sitting in Panera on Tuesday, actin’ a fool because too much caffeine was pumping through my veins. And with only slight twitching in my hands, I dove into the book of Ephesians in preparation for a Bible study I’m writing. And let. me. tell. you. It knocked me down.

Not literally, because people would have really stared then. But it was like I was reading it for the first time with fresh eyes. I gotta find out what’s in that coffee.

The thing that hit me was that God is the blessed One. Yes, we receive blessing in Christ but He’s the One who’s worthy of constant praise. He’s the One who out of His love and grace already calls you and me “holy and blameless.” Holy. Blameless. It’s done. It’s why He sent Jesus. It’s why Jesus died and rose.

He knows when we’re straight up whack to the people in our homes — like I was yesterday morning. He knows when we’re moody or deceptive or manipulative or lustful. Yet in Christ He calls us righteous. And that truth is just too much for my mind to grasp.

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Ephesians 1:3-4

 

I can hear your objections, “Yes, Lara, we’re called righteous but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t obey.” I get that. But the thing about grace is that it propels us to give everything, not just what the law demands. It blows our minds to the point that we want to sacrifice it all for the glory of God, because He’s just too good for anything less.

He calls us holy and blameless. Faultless. Unblemished. And I’m telling you. I was far from “blameless” in how I responded to my kids yesterday. I was emotional and tired and *blech*. But Jesus died for that. He rose for that. And because I’m His, I wake up in this new day with my Father whispering “blameless” over me.

You know what that truth makes me do? It makes me get on my face in praise, because I know me too well. It makes me say, “Forgive my selfishness! Take my life, Lord. Use me to glorify You! You alone.”

Grace does that. Grace does that.