Biblical Counseling for Women: God's Grace Is Sufficient

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)

Grace is sufficient. So many times, I hear people say they don’t think they can do it - they can’t bear up under the strain or under the persecution. They tell me how weak they are, and I tell them to rejoice in that weakness! Because then they can really see that it is not them doing it--it is Christ! The grace of God is enough to carry them!

Grace is sufficient, and it is enough. If it were not enough, God would have made a better provision.

I also have to remind myself that God’s grace will be present in abundance when I need it and not before. I cannot store up grace for a rainy day as I can my pennies; it will be sufficient and not lacking anything in that moment.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14 (NKJV)

I really love this passage of Scripture. When I first realized this, I think I about flew out of my seat!

Romans 6:1 says, “Are we to continue to live as though we are still slaves to sin? How can we who have been freed from sin still live as though we are still owned by it.”

Realizing that grace is in my life changes my perspective on things, people and circumstances. When I view all of life through the lens of God’s grace demonstrated toward me, I have no other alternative than to change how I live.

Some may disagree with my statement because of the issue of free will. My position is that a true believer will change. They just will! No will of man can overcome the power of the living God; some may change slower than others may, but all of us will be changed.

When the sinner, through the power of the Holy Spirit, begins to understand the enormity of what grace has done for them, their desire becomes one of change to bring Him glory. If the desire to change is not present, then we will question the validity of the salvation testimony.

When we realize that we are now free from all of the “have to’s” in obeying sin, our perspective on that sin changes immediately.

I have no choice but to conclude that I sin because I like its temporary results; I like the rush, the immediate gratification, and the clandestine feeling that I am getting away with something.

I deceive myself by thinking sin brings me pleasure when in reality it does not - not true pleasure, not pleasure without feelings of guilt. This is because always after the immediate gratification comes the immediate understanding that I have taken this wonderful grace and abused it and trampled it carelessly.

This is the realization of grace--the understanding that God has given us this wonderful gift that I surely do not deserve and has not given me all the misery I do deserve. He has brought me into His kingdom as His child and given me the riches of this kingdom, having lifted me out of slavery and misery and given me His inheritance. The realization that these things are true about me and cannot be revoked or taken away by anyone causes me to fall down and worship Him.