COMING TO TERMS

COMING TO TERMS

“But by the grace of God I am what I am..”

(1 Cor. 15:10)

As Matthew Henry says, “It is God’s prerogative to say ‘I AM THAT I AM’. It is our privilege to say, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”  Any and all good we have received from the risen Christ; any and all bad from the fallen Adam. Although each believer has many of the former's godly characteristics, he or she still retains many of the latter’s traits.

And in this sense we need to also say, “I am what I am.” I’m not referring to God’s grace and what He has made us, but to our inherited nature: that is, our sins, idiosyncrasies, failings, along with a host of other undesirables. I am not advocating a passive acceptance of things we can change, but those we can’t change.

As the little plaque on my bedroom wall says:

“God grant me the

SERENITY

To accept the things I cannot change

COURAGE

To change the things I can and the

WISDOM

To know the difference.”

Concerning the unchangeable things in our lives we need to come to terms with the fact that they are just that - unchangeable. That is we need to accept these problematic faults and move on with our lives. If not we will spend a lifetime attempting to change the unchangeable and neglect changing the changeable.

When God showed Paul he could not change his thorn for a rose he accepted the fact and moved on. And so should we, my friends!

An Old Disciple