My life is full
Of gifts from God
That I didn’t earn
And I don’t deserve.

My heart often fills up with undeserved joy. I owe God everything. I don’t deserve any blessing that He has given me. The more clearly I see my own heart, the more I’m aware that God treats me far better than I deserve.

I trust in God’s mercy, not my merit. I’m unworthy and underserving. I’m not good enough. I don’t measure up to God’s standards.

No one earns or deserves God’s love. He freely gives it. The nature of love is undeserved. True love is given, never earned or coerced. It takes courage, insight, and humility to realize that God treats you better than you deserve.

Only undeserving people can receive forgiveness, mercy, and grace. No one has a right to those things. Believing that we’re entitled makes us feel cheated. Believing that we’re undeserving make us feel grateful. Instead of proudly trying to earn God’s approval, humbly bow down and receive His mercy and forgiveness.

To deserve anything, you must measure up to it. To receive grace, you must be unworthy of it. We cannot be grateful to God or to other people for the things that we falsely believe we’ve accomplished totally on our own.

Think about this: No matter how much you’ve disgraced God, He continues to offer you the opportunity to receive his forgiveness, mercy, and grace.

No one can ever earn or deserve your forgiveness or God’s. Forgiveness is a gift that’s freely given.

Lord, help me
To see
That the things
I think I’ve earned
Are really
Your undeserved
Gifts to me.

When we try
To use muscle
To overcome
Life’s hustle bustle
We rustle up
More and more stress
And wind up in
An even bigger tussle.
The best way
To reduce stress
Is to surrender,
To lay down our mess,
And to learn
To daily experience
God’s peaceful rest
So that we can
Let the wind
Of God’s Spirit
Continually unwind
Our tangled mind
And troubled heart.