What Grace Looks Like

I am going to be honest with you all. Many speak of King David favorably and that used to confuse and bother me. Whenever I heard or read that David was a man after God's heart I would think, "No he wasn't!" I'd then proceed to list the reasons why I thought he was not (the various sins he committed in the Bible: murder, adultery, etc). People would claim they wanted to be like David and immediately I would think, "I don't!"

      I knew that God viewed David favorably and I wanted to know why. Whenever I read about him in the Bible I would try to understand what made him so special and why God viewed him the way He did. Finally, this year, I got my answer. It isn't a deep theological answer or some great mystery revealed. It is the simple truth of God's grace.

      While reading the Bible one day, 1 Kings 14:8 (NIV) stuck out to me: "I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.” In case you are wondering who the "you" is in this verse, God is speaking about King Jeroboam who led the Israelites to commit idolatry. He thought that if the people worshipped God, then they would try to replace him with someone from the family line of King David (because David faithfully worshipped God and God promised in 2 Samuel 7:16 NLT,  “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever."). To keep this from happening, Jeroboam had two golden calves created. He told the people that they were the gods who brought the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, so he and the people began to worship and sacrifice to them (1 Kings 12:25-33).

     David's descendants hadn't been as faithful to God as their predecessor had, so God took the kingdom from them and made Jeroboam king. Unfortunately, Jeroboam wasn't faithful and even caused the people to turn against God, so God turned against him. Notice who He mentioned, though, in the verse earlier: David. God said he hadn't been like David. He was the standard! Look at that verse again and see how favorably God speaks of him: "...but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes" (1 Kings 14:8 NIV). As soon as I read the way God described David I was back at it again. 

       "Doing ONLY what was right in God's eyes?! That's not true!" I brought my list back out. "God, why?!" I needed to understand. 

      Then, God showed me. This is the way His grace works. He knows all our past sins but doesn't identify us by them. We become spotless. God truly sees us as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17)! I spent so many years doing my best to make people proud and love me. That resulted in me having an overly critical and jealous mind. When I saw others receiving the affirmation and love I was working so hard for, I would begin making a list of why they didn't deserve it all as much as I did. Then, when I didn't receive it, I made a list against myself. I became self-critical. 

       I brought the same fear and mindset into my relationship with God. I battled with counting my sins against me and thinking (fearing) they made Him see me as and love me less. Even when God assured me, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." (Isaiah 1:18b NIV), I would sometimes fall back into that mindset. It wasn't until reading God's description of David that it became more than knowledge that I hammered into myself and a truth that I came to fully believe.

      When God saves us He knows our dirt. He knows all that we've done wrong. Of course it doesn't make those things right but it doesn't affect the way He sees us. He loves us and truly views us in a positive way. If you struggle the same way I do, be encouraged. Read about King David and how imperfect he was and compare that with the glowing way God describes and sees him. 

      Jesus sacrificed His life so that we can be reconciled with God and have a relationship with Him. He did it so that we can be saved. Because of Jesus, we are able to be seen in the same light that God viewed David. Rather than discouraging ourselves, let us live encouraged by the truth that God doesn't identify us by our sins, but by our relationship with Him.