“Oh happiness, there’s grace enough for us and the whole human race…”
– David Crowder Band

If I had to name one thing that’s changed the most about me (my days, my life, my mindset…) since coming to understand the freedom of grace, I’d have to say happiness.

It’s not a very spiritual answer unless you consider that Asher, a son of Jacob and father of one of the twelve tribes, actually means happy.

(And, as a side note, check out the blessings spoken over Asher, first the man by Jacob, and then the tribe by Moses.

Gen. 49:20 “Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.”

Deut. 33:24-25 About Asher he said: “Most blessed of sons is Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil. The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.”

Not bad, right? Who doesn’t want some of that?)

So, why happiness? I think because before understanding grace I was bound up with worry and constant pressure. I felt like when I worked hard enough I could be good at many different things, but Christianity wasn’t one of them, and while it may seem cliché, the harder I worked the more miserable I felt. I waffled between burnt out, and fired up, apathetic and energized, all the while swimming in an endless sea of guilt. It was the typical roller coaster of human experience most people and most Christians are taught to expect.

Then grace happened, and the doors of my prison opened and my soul felt free and light. I finally really felt that God not only loved me, but liked me, as a matter of fact I’m completely convinced that He’s crazy about me. I also stopped worrying about Him being angry, or even worse, disappointed in me. Of course all my actions won’t be pleasing to Him, but I’m pleasing to Him because Jesus took the punishment for my sins and gave me new and righteous life.

Some people call this understanding “cheap grace” because they think that a Christian considering themselves righteous and wholly pleasing to God is synonymous with laziness, a cavalier attitude toward sin, and irreverence. I say there is no such thing as cheap grace because any understanding that would lead to the above outcomes can’t be related to any real understanding of the word grace. There is not some subset of grace that is “cheap,” there is only true grace, and false understanding.

True grace can never lead to laziness. Understanding His love and what He’s done for us initiates action. It allows us to give Him complete control so that He can work though us. And, we can’t be cavalier toward sin because His love in us inspires us to love Him more and more, which causes us to want to obey Him, and motivation based on love will outlast any based on fear of punishment or some misguided attempt to earn blessings, not to mention it is the only motivation which God sees as pure. Don’t be fooled into thinking all obedience honors God. And, lastly it can never be irreverent. Even a glimpse of what Jesus did for us on the cross will create lifelong devotion and awe, and knowing we can approach His throne freely does not equate to irreverence, but the deepest and most intimate of connections.

So, does this mean I never have a bad day? No, of course not. Or, that bad things can’t happen and cause sorrow? Again, no. But in the 4 or so years that I’ve understood grace I’ve been freer, lighter, and happier, than in any of the 26 that came before and I wouldn’t go back for anything in the world, and I don’t make that statement without realizing its implications.

A friend once asked me what I thought would happen when I came down from the high of my grace revelation. I had no answer for her then, and even though that was 3 years ago I still don’t, because I can’t seem to come down. No matter what circumstances come nothing shakes it out of me. It is my constant and consuming passion, because in the words of a famous preacher, “Grace isn’t a doctrine, Grace is a person and His name is Jesus Christ.”