Depending on Our Savior

You are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift. —Ephesians 2:8

If you’ve been on social media, you know the abundance of self-improvement articles: “15 Steps to a More Stress-Free Home.” “25 Ways to Declutter Your Life.”

Though not every article with a list of steps appeals to self-sufficiency, it can easily awaken the drive to handle our sin and issues on our own. But Jesus has something to say about it: “You can do nothing without me” (John 15:5).

My flesh cries out, “But I must be able to contribute something!” Yet the Spirit within me testifies that every striving from the flesh is only diminishing Jesus as my Savior.

I am a Christian not because I’m able to live righteously but precisely because I can’t! I need a Savior not just once but every day. Yet somehow I often return to the lie that I’m saved by faith yet live by works. Though it seems right to try to “be better” in areas of my life, if not done in dependence on the Savior, all my efforts are in vain.

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“The Self-Sufficiency of Self-Improvement” (ReviveOurHearts.com/blog)

Scripture taken from The CSB